A London-born Indian-origin engineer’s project to supply low-cost washing machines to countries like India, where laundry is time consuming, has got off to a good start after field research in camps in Iraq. Navjot Sahni, who founded his washing machine project three years ago to provide energy efficient manual washing machines to low-income areas, is working with volunteers and partners to conduct research prior to supply.
The organization has also launched a crowdfunding appeal on Just Giving to raise £10,000 to assist with the delivery process. At The Washing Machine Project, we believe in the power of innovation to empower lives. That’s why we developed an off-grid, manual washing machine that saves 60-70 percent of time and 50 percent of water for people in low-income and displaced communities, notes the charity’s fundraising campaign. .
This idea was born out of friendship. Our founder, Nav, was on a sabbatical in rural South India, making clean chulhas when he met his neighbor, Divya. It was through their conversations at the end of each day that Nav realized the significant burden of unpaid labor places on women, it notes. Sawhney was on a sabbatical from his engineering career in the UK when the idea of a hand-crank washing machine came to his mind.
While in Tamil Nadu, I lived in a small village called Kuilapalayam. Sahni recalls that the community had limited access to continuous electricity, and the water was switched on twice a day. My neighbor Divya and I became very good friends. When we talked, she used to wash her clothes by hand. He said that I was always surprised by how much time and how much effort would take to do relatively unproductive work.
This inspired him to come up with the Divya 1.5 model of his manual washing machine, which was inspired by a simple salad spinner. Now 30 of Divya 1.5 will be used at Mamrashan Refugee Camp in Iraq with the help of Charity Care International. This is expected to have a positive impact on 300 people and save up to 750 hours per family annually, which is equivalent to two months of daylight hours. Sawhney plans to go to Iraq in early September to help distribute the machines. Later this year, the washing machine project aims to fulfill orders for refugee camps in Jordan. Eventually, there are plans to ship these machines to other parts of the world, including India and Africa.
Divya is not only carrying this burden. We have spoken to women and communities in 11 different countries around the world, including Lebanon, the Philippines and Cameroon. In those communities we have met children under the age of 6 who have started helping with this cause. It is not only harmful to their education but also to their childhood; Having kids, notes the project. There are many health risks associated with hand-washing clothing, especially infections and water-borne diseases from direct contact with contaminated water sources.
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