The Whirlpool Foundation is teaming up with the Washing Machine Project on a new project to distribute manual washing machines in areas of the world where access to electricity and indoor plumbing is limited. The plan is to build 10,000 manual washers in the next five years.
The Washing Machine Project’s Nav Sawhney tells us his group works all over the world to close the washing divide. He says five billion people worldwide lack access to washing machines, and almost all washing is done by women and girls.
“These women and girls often travel really far distances to neighboring water sources.,” Sawhney said. “They wash in ponds and rivers and streams, in buckets, on the floor, using cold water, causing back pain, joint pain and skin irritation.”
Sawhney says the Washing Machine Project is excited to find a new partner in the Whirlpool Foundation. Whirlpool’s Deb O’Connor says the company’s staff has pondered the same issues as the project.
“About 10 years ago, we had some women engineers create a manual washing machine as well, knowing how many people are still washing by hand because they just don’t have stable electricity or access to water,” O’Connor said.
However, O’Connor says Whirlpool had trouble distributing its manual washers to the areas that need them. That’s where the Washing Machine Project now comes in.
Whirlpool staff have built about 200 manual washers in the past week, and they’re being shipped out to Congo. In the next five years, more will be sent to India, Mexico, Brazil, Uganda, and Sudan.
The effort is expected to affect around 150,000 people.
