Pump Aid – The Facts
Pump Aid is a UK registered charity which works alongside African communities to provide sustainable clean water and sanitation solutions. They stand out from the crowd. They employ simple, appropriate technology, demonstrate cultural sensitivity and commitment to using local people and resources, delivering sustainable, effective results.
Pump Aid understand ‘it’s not enough to just turn up and dig wells’. Their focus is on empowering communities through ownership of their pump and making adequate preparation for sustainability.
The charity was started in 1999 by three teachers working in Zimbabwe after witnessing the deaths in their village of children and fellow teachers following the contamination of the school’s water source by a decomposing snake.
The founders developed the Elephant Pump, a low cost, community centred approach to sustainable water production. The technology proved so successful that Pump Aid grew and has been able to provide a lifetime’s supply of clean water to over 1 million people across Zimbabwe and Malawi.
The effects of a clean, sustainable supply of water have an enormous positive impact on people’s lives. Not only does this prevent disease, it allows for women and children to reduce the time collecting water from unsafe sources, so that they can go to school, grow crops to feed their families and start generating income.
