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Loading...Water Carrying Solution For Women In Africa (with VIDEO)
A simple design tweak now allows water to be pushed instead of carried or balanced on top of the head. The WaterWheel can roll on the ground with 20 gallons of water inside, making life easier for the one in six people worldwide who must gather water daily.
Water weighs eight pounds per gallon and PBS reports that a person living in sub-Saharan Africa uses an average of four gallons per day. The task of finding and collecting water is often subjugated to women and children who must carry many loads of water in buckets or baskets. The negative consequences of such demanding daily work for water include children missing out on school to complete household tasks, or women and children exposed to danger if they have to walk far for water.
Cynthia Koenig founded the business venture Wello with a business plan to “meet the needs of the billion people worldwide who do not have reliable access to water.” Wello is able to brag, “Our business model results in better health, female empowerment, access to education and sustainable income generation.”
Asked to describe herself, Koenig wrote, “committed. passionate. thirsty.” She is indeed thirsty for change as she focuses on business ventures that benefit the developing world. She credits the creation of Wello to her “years of personal experience in water scarce environments.”
Wello began distributing the WaterWheel in Rajasthan, India– a place known for its dry climate and where 90% of the people are dependent on ground water. The business plan is to make money from the advertising surfaces available on the Wheel.
“There’s a lot of daily work I have to do,” says a 45-year-old woman who tested the product (in a Michigan Ross School Of Business press release). “With extra time [that the WaterWheel would provide], I could have more cattle because I’d have time to take care of them. This would increase my income. Also, with more time and increased livestock, young girls can go to school.”
Wello is now hoping to bring the WaterWheel into wide circulation and is even considering partnering with the U.N. to work in war-torn Sudan.
Read more: africa, business, clean water, cynthia koenig, drinking water, india, safe water, socent, social entrepreneur, sudan, trailblazers for good, water, water carrying, waterwheel, wello
Photo by Josh Dick
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Thanks, we need basic common sense regarding food.
Disgusting Cretins!!! Hope they rot in hell!!! :(
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114 comments
+ add your ownwow! what a great idea!
Thank you for sharing this good idea! :D
Cool, thanks for sharing.
Nice idea if a water source in nearby, but the fact is that women and children walk 10 and even 20 miles to a water source and find
it contaminated. Carrying 20 gallons of water is not going to increase a family's of cattle; in an arid area there is no grazing
areas because there is little or no grass.
The answer of course if there must be more
wells providing clean water. This at least would prevent many diseases and help families
grow a kitchen gardent enabling them to have a better diet.
cool :-) and thanx
Thirsty? Please help @WelloWater win the race to raise $8k and a seat in the Unreasonable Institute by March 3: http://tinyurl.com/4lbk6d5
That is so cool! I love it.
Thanks
Well, that's a start.............really a nice idea. But a great idea would be a water supply nearer to all the folks who need them. Lets talk infrastructure on a micro scale in villages. Lets build them wells or bring in water via pipelines. But, yes this idea is helpful for now.
Cool.
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