Hippo water rollers are currently used by the World Food Programme (WFP) as a key part of their Schools Feeding Program in Tanzania. The availability of water is critical for the provision of meals to these pupils in Northern Tanzania.
The WFP have so far purchased more than 1,000 Hippo Rollers and are rolling them out at pre-selected schools. The WFP provides support to over 1,000 schools in drought prone areas of Tanzania.
One example is Eluwai Secondary School, located in the Arusha region in the North of Tanzania. The school, and village are named after the hardy plant that grows stubbornly in this arid landscape, looking almost like tumble weed that have grumpily decided to plan roots for a while.
The landscape in the Arusha region is dry, flat and unforgiving. Water is even more precious here and the inhabitants carry out an uneasy sharing of any water resources with the local wildlife.
A pump donated by a church group was stolen and this meant that water had to be fetched from increasingly far distances AND extreme care had to be taken to make sure that the local wildlife had taken their fill before anyone from the school showed up with a bucket.
Mr. Mushi as well as Mr. Herbert Msaki form the core of the permanent teaching staff and teach the school of 471 students. They informed us that the availability of water is critical to preparing the mid day meal that sustains many students through the day and also ensures good attendance.
Needless to say, the arrival of the Hippo Rollers made it much easier for the school to fetch the 400 litres of water needed to cook daily.
The students went to the lake to use the rollers for the first time. They then had a race to see who would get back to the school first with one group using the “old ways” and one group the Hippo Rollers. It wasn’t even close…
“The introduction of Hippo rollers in WFP supported primary schools significantly reduced the daily burden on women and children…” – World Food Programme
- Source: Extracts from a report received from Hippo Roller’s representative in Tanzania, Mr. Oluseyi Onabanjo.