21st Apr 2010 - 00:00
Abstract
Peter Goodey, joint managing director of Peros, has recently returned from Malawi in south-east Africa where he was one of the first visitors to the country to witness the installation of One Water PlayPumps.
He was accompanied on the trip by representatives from Imperial College and the University of Manchester whose purchases of bottles of One Water contributed to the installation of the PlayPumps. Malawi is one of the latest countries to benefit from One Water's scheme whose earlier activities have concentrated in and around South Africa. PlayPumps are funded through the sales of bottled water brand One Water whose profits go towards their installation in communities throughout Africa. Peros has been distributing One Water to the food service and university sectors for over four years and has already funded, through sales to its customers, nearly 80 pumps and two school vegetable garden projects in Malawi. Peter was overwhelmed by the welcome they were given by the communities they visited and delighted to see the benefits that the pumps had already brought. "The highlight of our trip was when, as we approached one village, more than a thousand children came out from school to meet us," Peter says. "They were all singing and dancing with joy and gratitude, which was a very humbling and uplifting experience. The very fact that there were so many children in the school is one of the major benefits of the PlayPump, because children can attend school rather than spend time collecting water from far-away sources."