A young Bolivian inventor turns trash into high-tech treasures

Americas Now

Esteban Quispe was born in Bolivia with next to nothing. His parents, who could barely make ends meet, didn’t have money for the basics, and much less for the anything high-tech. So at six years old, Esteban started making and selling little copper-wire sculptures to save money and pay his own way.

Today, he is 18, and has graduated to building robots. But even though he is considered a genius in his hometown in Bolivia, his life hasn’t gotten any easier. In order to find scraps of electronic goods for his projects, he relies on digging up debris from the garbage heap.

Americas Now Correspondent Gerry Hadden has his story.

Follow Gerry Hadden on Twitter @gerryhadden

A young Bolivian inventor turns trash into high-tech treasures

Esteban Quispe is considered a genius. But his ingenuity doesn't just come from what he creates and rather, how he does so.