This simple invention is aiding women and children by alleviating the burden of carrying water home everyday.
It may be difficult to imagine but all over the world, people are struggling to not only gain access to water because of the global water crisis but also to transport any water they can access.
The Hippo Water Roller was designed to alleviate the daily struggle of women and children, the primary water-retrievers, by helping them to more easily transport more water than they can usually carry in one trip.
A typical trip to collect water results in women and children carrying 20 Liters of water on their head each time. The Hippo Water Roller allows them to either push or pull up to 90 Liters at a time.
The water is contained in a drum attached to a steel clip handle that is easily maneuvered by anyone using it.
Not only does it prevent injuries from occurring because water is no longer being balanced on a person’s head, the fact that it collects nearly five times more than usual allows women and children more time in the day for other tasks.
Credit: Hippo Roller
Women can spend more time at home attending to household affairs or working at a job; and children can use the extra time to attend school. More time can also be spent on food productivity and processing for farm households.
Former South African president Nelson Mandela personally endorsed the project and appealed to the private and corporate sectors to support and fund it. He spoke of the project, saying,
“A personal appeal is made to your organization to actively support a national project which will positively change the lives of millions of our fellow South Africans.”
The project is managed by Imvubu Projects cc, who seeks partnerships with local groups already established in impoverished areas to better incorporate the rollers.
According to the World Bank, 2.8 billion of the 7 billion on Earth live in areas with high water scarcity and poor and rural communities suffer the most without nearby wells or plumbing to bring water to them.
The project is also environmentally friendly, as the plastic can be recycled or the damaged rollers can be repurposed into storage bins, flower pots, and many other items. The rollers also work to compact the soil and protect pathways rather than creating lines in roads like wheelbarrows do.
CNN World News said this about the Hippo Water Rollers:
“With the financial assistance of others, there’s now the real possibility that a burden carried for so long can be set aside forever.”
While the rollers are not a permanent solution to the water problem, it can alleviate the pain and process of collecting daily water, something most people take for granted.
What are your thoughts on this simple but helpful invention? Please share, like, and comment on this article!
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What came immediately to mind as a former sanitarian is how easy it would be to have a reservoir to add chlorine or iodine with each load to sanitize the water.
What is the good of chlorine etc.?