Before and after every meal, every guest scrubs
their hands over a basin of water. The ritual shows the value of
cleanliness in the community and is a way for them to show respect for
their leaders. Chiefs have their hands washed first, then men, women and
orphans. Photo by Jen Hall, Good Samaritan Malawi
On the outskirts of a Malawi city in southeastern Africa, hands are
washed before and after every meal. The host, often helped by her oldest
child, offers a basin of water to honor each guest in order of rank,
from chiefs down to men, women and orphans, each patiently waiting to
scrub, rinse and dry their fingers.
Cleanliness is a revered part of this Malawi village. The water itself, however, is dirty and often tainted with E. coli bacteria, which can make people sick and, in rare cases, cause death.
Justina Msofi, a staff member of the Raleigh Hills-based nonprofit Good Samaritan Malawi, grew up in the country and is stationed there. She suspected that her severe stomach pains were linked to the outhouse on the hill, which seeped sewage into the groundwater.
When Msofi contacted the home office about the drinking water problem, staff knew a Beaverton company that could help.
Puralytics, a clean-tech business headquartered at Northwest Greenbrier Parkway, makes plastic SolarBags that use sunlight to purify water to drinking standards. Two churches, in Portland and Tigard, raised money to donate 200 bags to Good Samaritan Malawi to send to the village.
By this summer, nonprofit staff hope to start delivering bags to the Malawi village of Luwinga.
Cleanliness is a revered part of this Malawi village. The water itself, however, is dirty and often tainted with E. coli bacteria, which can make people sick and, in rare cases, cause death.
Justina Msofi, a staff member of the Raleigh Hills-based nonprofit Good Samaritan Malawi, grew up in the country and is stationed there. She suspected that her severe stomach pains were linked to the outhouse on the hill, which seeped sewage into the groundwater.
When Msofi contacted the home office about the drinking water problem, staff knew a Beaverton company that could help.
Puralytics, a clean-tech business headquartered at Northwest Greenbrier Parkway, makes plastic SolarBags that use sunlight to purify water to drinking standards. Two churches, in Portland and Tigard, raised money to donate 200 bags to Good Samaritan Malawi to send to the village.
By this summer, nonprofit staff hope to start delivering bags to the Malawi village of Luwinga.
SolarBag
Harnessing the power of the sun to purify water, the Puralytics SolarBag delivers clean potable water addressing the World Health Organization guidelines for safe drinking water. No electricity, chemicals, or light sources are needed. This totally passive purification product is perfect for:
Harnessing the power of the sun to purify water, the Puralytics SolarBag delivers clean potable water addressing the World Health Organization guidelines for safe drinking water. No electricity, chemicals, or light sources are needed. This totally passive purification product is perfect for:
- Developing World
- The SolarBag allows the poorest and most remote places on the earth
to have access to safe drinking water, simply, and at very low cost.
- Emergency Preparedness
- Using no chemicals and providing compact size, light weight, long
shelf life, rugged, and easy transport, these SolarBags can provide
clean drinking water anywhere.
- Outdoor Recreation - Perfect for camping, backpacking, kayaking, and canoeing anywhere pure drinking water is a concern.
- Military Individual Water Purifiers (IWPs) - No chemicals are required to meet individual water needs in remote locations.
No comments:
Post a Comment