Somalia's 13-year-old inventor becomes famous

Guled Adan Abdi, from the northern town of Buhodle, taught himself how to make plastic toys from bits of discarded objects, and then worked out how to motorise them by studying real cars.

"I started making toys when I was younger," he told the BBC Somali Service.

"I used to play with them without any motor. But later I said to myself: 'Why don't you make them into a moving machine?'

"So I looked at the cars in the town and invented my toys with the same design."

So far, he has constructed four electronic toys, including a truck and a plane, mainly using plastic from old cooking oil containers. He has also invented a fan that can be used as a light at night.

Guled lives at home with his mother and older brother and sister, and goes to a school in Buhodle that is supported by Somalis in the diaspora.

But he has missed out on a lot of his education and is only in the third year at primary school - a class usually for eight year olds. This is because his father disappeared in 2002 and is presumed dead.
Check some of the photos of his invention below:

Source: www.ghsongs.com