Walking a round trip of up to 100 km (62 miles) to fetch water in north eastern Kenya

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“We’ve all read about how Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. But have you ever read about how people in Mandera, north eastern Kenya, can walk a round trip of up to 100 kilometres (62 miles) to fetch water?”

Gemma Huma of PracticalAction.org asked this question during a visit to Mandera. She observed that people in this region of Kenya have to walk this unimaginable distance in temperatures of up to 40˚C.

It is also dangerous. Water is in such short supply that violence regularly breaks out at the few remaining wells – with many innocent women and children wounded or killed.

Practical Action is reducing the trek that people have to make to fetch water by rehabilitating shallow wells dug into seasonal river beds.

  • The Hippo Water Roller similarly improves access to water. It enables women, children and the elderly to collect 5 times more water than a single bucket by simply rolling it along the ground.

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Hippo Roller Is More Than It Seems!

From rural plots and small holdings to urban areas facing water shortages—where people rely on government-supplied water trucks—the Hippo Roller makes it easier to carry