IBM goes low-tech to give rural communities access to water

During the past six years, IBM SA has provided 30 000 people in rural areas with access to clean water - by paying for the cost of production and distribution of 700 Hippo Water Rollers.

Although each roller is designed to carry 90 litres of water, it is very easy to handle because it is rolled along the ground like an old-fashioned lawnmower. Even young children can manage one.

Normally, communities would use 20-litre containers, because they are small enough to be carried - most often on the head. However, smaller containers necessitate more frequent trips to community taps, using hours of time that could be more productively spent on education or development work. Also, because the Rollers don`t have to be carried, they prevent injuries to the spine and neck.

Says IBM SA`s corporate social investment manager, Alfred Mandewo: "As a rule, IBM focuses on using high technology, like computers, to help communities uplift themselves. Our emphasis is on providing tools for and access to education, because we believe that education is the best means of making communities sustainably independent.

"But the Hippo Water Roller is a superb example of the way in which even the simplest technology can bring immediate benefits to disadvantaged people. And, in the context of people who are deprived of the most basic necessities of life, like water, education is actually a luxury. Alleviation of poverty must come first.

"So, when the premier of Mpumalanga at the time, Matthews Phosa, asked us to help distribute Rollers, we were happy to get involved."

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In that first year, IBM SA donated 200 Rollers and has donated 100 every year since, at a total cost of R300 000.

Since 1999, the Africa Foundation has been managing the distribution of Hippo Water Rollers. It is an independent, non-profit organisation that aims to improve the lives of residents in rural communities adjacent to conservation areas. Working closely with IBM SA and other donors, such as the California and Foothills High School in the US and guests of the Ngala Private Game Reserve, the Africa Foundation has distributed more than 1 000 Rollers in the past two years.

One anonymous American donor chose to get involved when, as a tourist, he heard Mandewo make a presentation about the Rollers at a holiday lodge in Mpumalanga in 2001. He has donated 600 Rollers since then.

IBM SA plans to continue its annual donation for 10 years.