In Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, 12.6% of the population have no access at all to piped water and 13.2% travel further than 200 meters to reach a communal tap, and the burden of collecting water from these taps falls primarily and disproportionately to women and children. Carrying heavy buckets of water on the head over long distances can cause premature aging of the spine, and multiple trips are often required to collect the necessary water for the day, taking up valuable productive time during the day for women and causing many children to miss school.

A Hippo Roller, in contrast, easily transports 90 L of water at a time with no requirement for carrying. Hippo Water Rollers may seem like a simple solution, but they can drastically change the daily lives of women and children living in poor and rural communities around Africa. Africa Foundation is currently distributing Hippo Water Rollers to 115 households in Mpumalanga as part of our COVID-19 Relief Campaign. Households were chosen due to certain identifying criteria, such as members with disabilities, households headed by children or young people, and households with no clear income earner.

In the process of identifying the 115 families in need of Hippo Water Rollers, it became clear that the need for assistance in this area was far greater than 115 families. Africa Foundation is now raising funds to continue to provide Hippo Water Rollers a further 400 families in Mpumalanga.

1 Hippo Roller costs $ 130 or $52,000 to fund 400.