Introducing the ixo world showcase project: The WASH System
We are excited to announce the third showcase project launching on ixo — The WASH System, in partnership with FLOW (For Love of Water).
For many years, The Langrug community near Cape Town in South Africa, has been plagues by poor water management. People resorted to depositing their grey water directly into the streets. This polluted existing water sources. It has led to safety and health issues within the community.
In 2015, The Genius of SPACE (Systems for People’s Access to A Clean Environment) project was piloted in more than 100 homes in this informal settlement. The solutions included building new waste systems such as grey water disposal points, underground waste water pipes, tree gardens and Upcycle bins. This aimed to improve people’s health and wellbeing, whilst also uplifting the environment to make this safer and more attractive. The project proved to be a huge success. It has started to generate income through knowledge-sharing and tours, which over time will replace the need for outside support.
FLOW are now seeking funding to continue to maintain and grow the WASH (Water and social health) system within this settlement. Donations will directly contribute to maintenance of the grey water disposal points and provide ongoing employment for FLOW agents, who keep the community clean and safe.
We caught up with the Founder of FLOW, Justin Friedman, to learn more about the project and what difference this will make to the Langrug community.
Can you give a bit of a background on FLOW, including why you started it and some highlights of FLOW’s journey?
FLOW began in 2010 in an attempt to prevent the pending water crisis in South Africa. FLOW used various platforms to raise awareness and instil a deeper appreciation, understanding and respect for water. We worked to unify the different sectors including Government departments, Corporates, Civil Society, Media, Youth citizens around a common ingredient message “for love of water” and acknowledge those who were playing their part. We believed the only solution was education, understanding and collective action.
Why have you chosen to launch your project through ixo world?
We believe that this platform can really assist in providing exposure, transparency and verified measured impact. In my experience in the development space, it is important to be able to verify impact on the ground to enable projects to continue to get support an ultimately become self-sufficient. The beneficiaries need to become custodians of their own projects and this platform should provide a clear way for all parties to hold each other accountable
ixo will create a new way of valuing social impact and will offer an opportunity to make a difference and get a measured return. It will bring the power back into the hands of the projects themselves by showing the beneficiaries in a calculated way the impact they are having and perhaps offer a way for them turn this impact into a form of lasting value.
It is a good fit in my eyes, since FLOW has done well to kickstart a lot of initiatives across a spectrum of platforms. With this type of partnership, we will ensure that these initiatives continue to thrive and mature into perennial projects that capacitate the beneficiaries.
Who does the The WASH System project on ixo appeal to?
People everywhere who want to participate in capacitating community members to become self-reliant by taking care of their own water and waste. The real impact is that this will improve the overall health of the most vulnerable — children in the community.
What excites you most about building on ixo?
I don’t yet know as much as I would like to about the blockchain, but I am excited to see it assist to streamline support and remove any unnecessary intermediaries that often get in the way of real impact. I come across so many excellent projects around the world and look forward to seeing them benefit from ixo and the possible partnerships that will develop from it.
What problems do you think the technology could solve?
It will combine the world of modern tech with hands-on experience in on the ground project activation, thereby ensuring that technology and the blockchain can ultimately support real life benefits to people across the globe.
The first step is to accept this invitation and join ixo as a pioneer member (which is free). This will give you a self-sovereign digital credential that serves as your passport to ixo.world.
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Learn more about ixo and how to get involved at ixo.world (and meet the ixo chatbot who will deal with FAQs)
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