Reflection 1: The Hippo Roller — Helping Millions Of Women
In Africa, nearly a billion people struggle to access water, so they must resort to alternatives such as travelling to collect water and carrying full buckets back home. According to Graham, it’s physically demanding and time-consuming work. Graham and his colleagues found that one of the family members is responsible for collecting water, an activity that takes between 10 and 65 minutes. In addition, they also found that the main water collectors were women, ranging in age from 15 to 75 years old.
Traditionally, women collect water in large plastic containers. The researchers reported that, if a container is full, it can hold 5 gallons and weighs about 40 pounds. These containers were carried by the women without any support. In addition, it was described that the terrain is often uneven and, before collecting water, the woman must find out which pump she can visit to acquire water on that day, Crow added. This is due to seasonal shortages and rations that can make the process more complex.
After a long process, the women are ready to go home but now is when the hard part begins. Carrying 40 pounds on their heads and walking home is not an easy task. Also, depending on the size of the family and the needs of the household, this could require more than a single trip a day. The problem was noticed by people very motivated to find a solution for it. Extensive research was done, and two South Africans, Pettie Petzer and Johan Jonker created The Hippo Roller, in 1991 and established it 3 years later.
How does it work? It’s a simple solution that allows water collectors to collect up to five times as much water. The Hippo Roller is a 90-liter (24 gallon) container that is rolled on the ground. Now, instead of carrying it on your head, as usual, the water is rolled by pushing or pulling it. This allows more people to have access to water, which improves food security and income generation.
By September 2015, 46,000 Hippo Rollers had been distributed in 20 countries. This helped 300,000 people in families where the average is seven members. The ability to roll instead of carrying water reduces injuries and gives more time for school and other activities.
I find this social innovation inspiring because the creators of Hippo Rollers were able to identify a serious problem affecting a specific group of people, but what is impressive is that they mastered the design thinking process of this initiative. First, they came up with the idea that they would make a more direct and faster connection to the water, effectively reducing collection time and consequently, physical exertion. However, the women were not happy with it because, for them, it was the only time of the day when they could go for a walk with friends or other women with whom they shared something in common. Thus, the developers took their feedback and adapted the idea to the benefit of these groups of women, keeping the distance but easing the burden. I think successful design thinking is not just about innovating but being able to empathize with the end-user and create something effective and efficient.
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