While our ethos of helping others is a core value of our business and is commonly shared in most of our communication, it bears repeating just how valuable your contribution – one water cooler at a time – is, in helping us bring water to the disadvantaged in Africa.
For those of us fortunate enough to live in a First World country, we take it for granted that the moment we open our taps, clean and safe drinking water will flow. But for many in Africa and other Third World countries, this is sadly not the case.
AquAid have been supplying offices and schools with all their water cooler needs since 1998 and part of what gives our business its soul, is our belief in ‘giving back’ and helping those most in need. As you may know, a percentage of each water cooler dispenser sale goes towards the Africa Trust, a charity begun by AquAid that helps to bring safe drinking water, sanitation and income-generating solutions to some of the poverty-stricken in Africa – to date we have donated in excess of £14 million to this and other worthy causes, and have helped bring water to more than 2.5 million people.
For those of you not familiar with the Africa Trust’s most successful project, the Elephant Pump – it’s a modified version of an age old Chinese rope pulley system. The pump is built by the local villagers and utilizes only local materials ensuring that all those involved are able to maintain and repair the pumps themselves. In 2005 the Elephant Pump, competing against 250 other applicants, was awarded the prestigious St Andrews Medal for the Environment. And in his personal recommendation, Prince Charles – a patron for the St Andrews Medal – had this to say about the Elephant Pump:
‘Each project has had a direct and positive impact on people’s lives. While it is perhaps invidious to highlight just one of them, I believe a good example is the success of The Elephant Pump project. Based on a 2000-year-old Chinese technique for lifting water, The Elephant Pump is inexpensive, simple to make and repair and made from locally available materials which give users a greater sense of ownership. When more than a billion people live without access to clean drinking water in the world today, it is hard to imagine a better cause than this.’
AquAid has helped the Africa Trust build 8,000 of these Elephant Pumps in different parts of Zimbabwe and Malawi. If your ethos is also to help those most in need and if you want to help bring clean and safe drinking water to the impoverished, consider choosing AquAid as your office or school water cooler supplier today!
