Using Crowdfunding & Community Ownership to Maximise the Impact of Hippo Water Rollers in Mozambique

In 2015 Ruben Morgado and his wife partnered with the Carlos Morgado Foundation in Mozambique to create a crowdfunding campaign to fund, transport, and distribute 30 Hippo Rollers to the community of Mangundze in the district of Manjacaze.

Their goal was to assist families to secure improved access to drinking water, benefiting their health and freeing their time to focus on education and income-generating opportunities. They wanted a tool that would have an immediate impact in the community, and the Hippo Roller was a perfect choice.

Community Ownership

They originally planned for five families to share each drum. Beyond meeting basic humanitarian needs, the communal property would instill a sense of engagement, empowerment, responsibility, and accountability among the community members.

• With assistance from Juan Gabriel Arias of the Mission of Mangundze, a community committee was organized to map the geographic areas that each drum would serve and its schedule among the five beneficiary families.
• They also identified community leaders to support the process. Those leaders became responsible for the management of each drum, distributing them on schedule and providing regular maintenance.
• In six months, the community committee successfully distributed all 30 Hippo Rollers and provided oversight for usage and schedules.
• After a short period of skepticism with regard to transporting water in a rolling plastic drum, the acceptance and demand was incredibly high.
• The community committee responded to the demand by revising the schedule to serve between 10-50 families per Hippo Roller, more than five times the original plan!

A few months after the final distribution, they completed a survey to identify the total impact of each Hippo Roller on the community. Using an average of five people per family, the summary of beneficiaries is as follows:

• >   15 , each benefiting 10 families = 150 families or 750 individuals
• >   10 , each benefiting 40 families = 400 families or 2000 individuals
• >   5 , each benefiting 50 families = 250 families or 1250 individuals
• >   TOTAL  = 800 families or 4000 individuals ( 13% of the district’s population )

In 2016  their plan is to expand the distribution and impact with 60 additional Hippo Rollers in Mangundze.  A new crowdfunding campaign was launched in May 2016 for this purpose:
https://www.generosity.com/community-fundraising/drinking-water-in-mangundze-2016

All donations, large or small, make a difference. Every contribution helps, and all the money goes directly to a Hippo Roller that will help a Mozambican family.