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Thousands of tippy taps to be erected – simple but very effective

Thousands of tippy taps to be erected – simple but very effective

A local investment bank has provided funding for en-masse distribution of an ingenious device that will help households in informal communities to sanitise regularly and on site.

The device, called a tippy tap, is a 5-litre fluid container filled with sanitiser and suspended on a swivelling axle between two poles. There is a small hole in the container’s cap to allow dispensing which is done by stepping on a cantilever pole attached by a piece of string to the top of the container. When a person steps on the lever, the container tilts, dispensing sanitiser through the hole in the cap. When the foot on the cantilever is taken off, gravity rights the container again, stopping dispensing.

The device is so simple but yet so effective that Rand Merchant Bank has availed N$500,000 to distribute more than 10,000 of these hand-washing units. It is anticipated that about 40,000 of the estimated 65,000 households living in informal settlements, will be given access to hand sanitation in this way.

RMB’s Chief Executive, Conrad Dempsey said there is a potential crisis in Windhoek’s informal settlements where about 180,000 people reside. Helping to avert the situation to turn into a full-blown crisis, RMB stepped in to support the procurement of 5-litre containers, and the training of a small army of volunteers who intend to erect between 300 and 400 tippy taps every day.

“The programme supported by RMB is implemented by the not-for-profit organisation Development Workshop Namibia in collaboration with the Namibian Chamber of Environment. Together we aim to assist in setting up more than 10,000 tippy taps over the following 20 days to reach approximately 40,000 families,”, Dempsey said.

The training and roll-out started last week with about 500 tippy taps erected every day over the first few days of the campaign.

Expressing his gratitude to the implementing organisations and to the volunteers, Dempsey said “from examples across the world we know that it is important to react early and decisively. We hope that the support from RMB will contribute to reduce the impact that COVID-19 will have on the most vulnerable segments of Namibia’s population.”


 

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