by Fern Shaw | Sep 15, 2015 | Water
Here at AquAid, we’ve always believed that an integral part of good business practice is helping those less fortunate – especially those far flung communities in Third World countries.
This philosophy was put into effect by ensuring that a portion of proceeds from all sales of our water cooler products was donated to sustainable charities such as Christian Aid and The Africa Trust.
The Africa Trust itself has gone from strength to strength – with more than 5,000 water wells, known as Elephant Pumps, built throughout Africa since 1998.
Building the Elephant Pumps has taken the teams from Zimbabwe, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, and Liberia where these wells now provide potable water for millions of people.
The original Elephant Pump is suitable for high levels of usage and also for deep water tables. Although the aim is for one pump to be for around 300 beneficiaries per pump, in some cases many more people end up using a single pump.
But what happens when you enter regions where the water table is not that deep or the community is smaller? If you’re Ian Thorpe, CE of The Africa Trust and inventor of The Elephant Pump, you design an alternative.
So, without further ado, we introduce *trumpet* to you the ‘Baby’ Elephant Pump.
- This smaller pump has recently been introduced in in a trial project in Mozambique, where there are areas where the communities are more dispersed with small clusters of families.
- A pump which lifts water only 5-10 metres and serves just 50 or 100 people doesn’t need to be built with such robust materials such as is the case with the original ‘parent’ Elephant Pump, hence the design and building of the Baby Elephant Pump.
- The design is cheaper and has been developed for individual homesteads rather schools or villages therefore the smaller pump costs less than half the cost of the more robust village model of Elephant Pump.
If you would like to find out about sponsoring the building of one of these pumps without any additional cost to you*, please contact Shelly or call 01223 508 109 – we’ll be delighted to assist you.
*This offer is only available to AquAid customers.
by Fern Shaw | Jul 22, 2015 | aquaid tyne wear, Charity, Christian Aid, Water Coolers
The Swimming Scuba Diver
One of the aspects of working in the marketing and social media sphere that I really enjoy is getting to ‘know’ some of the many people that work at AquAid. To date, I’ve ‘met’ a serious traveller – Josh; a carer of animals and Tough Man competitor – Scott; a stand-up comedian – Martin; a Super Dad – Ross; and a Ninja – Dennis.
Last week, I spoke to Emir Dobson, franchisee at AquAid Middlesborough and asked her if she would be kind enough to put pen to paper and despite being rather busy, she graciously took the time out to answer my questions.
I was so tickled with her replies as I again realised that the individuals that work at AquAid really are quite a mixed bag and full of surprises – who knew that AquAid Middlesborough boast their very own scuba diver? So, without further ado, here’s what Emir had to share, pretty much verbatim:
Name: Emir Dobson
Role at AquAid: Manager – AquAid Tyne & Wear
Years at AquAid: Too long.
What do you enjoy about your job? The people we meet!
Tell us something interesting about yourself: Achievements: Working alongside my husband in all these years without a major incident!!!
How did you get involved with AquAid? I became involved in AquAid due to my connection with Christian Aid – I am passionate about the work that they do – my contribution is through donations.
Hobbies: Keeping with the water theme – I enjoy swimming and scuba diving.
What is it about swimming and scuba diving that you enjoy so much? I enjoy water… swimming and scuba diving keep you fit, they’re good for you…
When do you do the above? Enjoy diving as often as I can.
Why do you do it? It’s good fun and the people are great criag.
I enjoy diving anywhere there is water. In the North Sea, the wrecks are good and the sea fish.
In warmer climates – every dive is different; you see different fish, coral, wrecks – its good fun.
How long have you been involved with this? About 10 years.
Claim to fame – Just being alive!
What are you hoping to achieve or to do in the future? As soon as the family have moved out of the family home – my husband and I are going to travel – Thailand; Africa; USA.
Notes: No matter what happens – we are all the same – we eat, sleep, and breathe … the same. x
Thank you Emir, so interesting how water plays such a huge part in your life, from both a business and personal perspective. I wish you many good dives and lots of criag!
by Fern Shaw | Mar 30, 2015 | Water
It would seem that ancient methods are best when it comes to saving water in a ‘Modern Age’.
*Recently, The Stockholm Water Prize was awarded to Rajendra Singh, who is known as the ‘Water Man of India’. Rajendra’s methods have brought water to over a thousand villages in the country.
The judges of the prize say his methods have also prevented floods, restored soil and rivers, and brought back wildlife. They also maintained that his technique is cheap, simple, and that his ideas should be followed worldwide.
Rajendra uses a modern version of the ancient Indian technique of rainwater harvesting.
It involves building low-level banks of earth to hold back the flow of water in the wet season and allow water to seep into the ground for future use.
Rajendra first trained as a medic, but when he took up a post in a rural village in arid Rajasthan he was told the greatest need was not health care but drinking water.
Groundwater had been sucked dry by farmers, and as water disappeared, crops failed, rivers, forests and wildlife disappeared and people left for the towns.
“When we started our work, we were only looking at the drinking water crisis and how to solve that,” Mr Singh said.
“Today our aim is higher. This is the century of exploitation, pollution and encroachment. To stop all this, to convert the war on water into peace, that is my life’s goal.”
Similarly, on another continent, adaptations to an ancient manual water pump made using readily available and replaceable materials has ensured that the fondly named ‘Elephant Pump’ has been bringing safe potable water to villages and communities throughout Africa for more than 10 years.
Ian Thorpe, co-founder of The Africa Trust, was awarded the prestigious St Andrews Medal for the Environment in 2005 and The Elephant Pump received the World Bank Development Marketplace award for Water, Sanitation and Energy a year later.
As with Rajendra’s initial start as a medic, Ian started out teaching in Zimbabwe, but this soon changed when he witnessed the terrible conditions the villagers lived in and the hours spent every day retrieving water many miles away – water that was mostly unsafe to drink.
At the time of winning the St. Andrew’s Medal, around 250,000 people were already using the pump and today over two million people use the Elephant Pump every day. This figure is growing each month thanks to funding from AquAid and others.
There are lessons to be learnt here and what seems to be clear indicators that time honoured old methods are what are needed in supplying a large portion of the world’s population with the tools for a safe and sustainable water supply.
Gentlemen, I salute you both!
*excerpts from an article in the BBC Science and Environment section by Roger Harrabin.
by Fern Shaw | Mar 22, 2015 | Health and Hydration, Water
In a previous blog, I spoke about the rather disturbing trend where almost every single day of the year has been tagged as a Day of Something or Other. One seems hard pressed to wheedle out a day that has actual significance or some real meaning or; that is of importance and is worth commemorating.
A day that is worth marking though is World Water Day, which this year, will be held on the 22nd of March 2015. In case you’re wondering why – as you may have all the water that you need and believe that’s all there is to it – here are just a few reasons – from a personal perspective:
- Water is essentially life giving.
- There is no spectrum of our lives that is possible without water – this starts with the fact that our physical make-up is around 70% water.
- Water is a scarce resource and as about only 2.5% of the world’s water is fresh water, it is a resource that needs to be protected and used wisely.
- Short of developments in nuclear fusion, we cannot ‘make’ water, so we need to ensure that the water that we do have is used in a sustainable manner going forward.
The theme for the 2015 World Water Day is Water and Sustainable Development. Some pertinent facts according to the World Water Day website:
- Water is health – Clean hands can save your life.
- Water is nature – Ecosystems lie at the heart of the global water cycle.
- Water is energy – Water and energy are inseparable friends.
- Water is food – To produce two steaks you need 15 000 litres of water.
- Water is equality – Every day women spend 200 million hours carrying water.
- Water is urbanization – Every week, one million people move into cities.
- Water is industry – More water is used to manufacture a car than to fill a swimming pool.
Taking all of these factors into consideration, I think it’s safe to say that the world’s water is of concern for us all and that creating and maintaining a sustainable supply is imperative.
Here at AquAid, a very important part of our ethos is assisting in the creation of a sustainable water supply globally, for those less fortunate, in order for these communities to empower themselves and their future generations.
You can follow this link to see what events are being held where this World Water Day 2015.
by Fern Shaw | Mar 10, 2015 | aquaid surrey, Charity
Regional Manager – AquAid Surrey
To date, meeting some of the AquAid team has taken us all over the U.K., as far as San Francisco in the USA, and even Tanzania, Africa with Ian Thorpe of The Africa Trust for Christmas with the Maasai.
Today we learn a bit more about Ross Dowsett, Regional Manager at AquAid Surrey.
Ross has been with AquAid Surrey since January 2004. His position keeps him on his toes working a 10 hour day. When he’s not at work, much of his time is spent being a Dad, ferrying his children to various after school activities.
His 10 year old daughter does judo and plays various instruments on the school team and his 6 year old boy participates in football and swimming. Seems like busy runs in the family!
When he can find the time, Ross realises his grand passion for cooking. He watches practically every cooking programme on TV and often tries out and recreates the dishes, with, as he says, ‘varied results’.
From what Ross told us, his results now are a far cry from the days when he started on this taste adventure. Apparently, his first attempt at making his favourite dish from scratch – a Chicken & Apricot Curry from a Rick Stein recipe – didn’t go quite as planned.
He confused tablespoon (Tbs.) with teaspoon (tsp.) measurements, and ended up having to glug a tub of natural yoghurt to stop the burn. Thankfully, the days of confusing measurements are long past and diners chez Ross are in for a treat.
He’s also been told that his Spaghetti Bolognaise is the best around, perfected from his mum’s recipe. I have to agree – there’s nothing quite like a good Bolognaise – tops on the comfort food list.
Another activity that keeps Ross on his toes is, as he says, ‘trying to keep fit by taking long walks as often as is possible’ as each year he tries to ensure that he enters a 13+ mile walk for charity. It’s this inspiration that gets him to go out on cold winter nights in all weathers to get a bit of training in.
On the 22nd of this month, Ross is doing the Marsden March. It is a 14 mile walk from the Royal Marsden Hospital Fulham to The Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton. The Marsden Hospital specialises in the treatment of cancer.
This means a lot to Ross as he lost his mother to cancer 12 years ago and other people in his family are now battling the illness.
If any of you would like to sponsor Ross you can do so at Just Giving. All sponsorships, irrespective of the amount, will be for a most worthwhile cause!
So, there you have another of the ‘Meet the AquAid Team:’ – Ross Dowsett – super pretty much everything! Thanks for a slice of your valuable time, Ross!
