Human ingenuity never fails to stun me. Here's an extract of a news article that appeared on the website Fool.com. Its about this NGO from South Africa who is using Merry-go rounds to pump water from the earth. Its a one-shot solution for both....Billions of people facing an acute shortage of water and their children, who get a fantastic place to play!!

Here's the extract:
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PlayPumps is based in South Africa, and like so many great things, it got its start from the mind of an entrepreneur. Trevor Field, an advertising executive, saw an opportunity when he came across a machine an engineer had developed that used a child's merry-go-round to pump water. Mr. Field saw a way to turn such a contraption into a more complex watering system. He also realized that the mechanism could solve one of the real problems that has bedeviled governments and other organizations for years: developing a water pump that circumvented the various unreliable sources of power to operate it.

But Mr. Field also noted that in the poorest areas in South Africa, children had precious few alternatives to play. So why not combine the two into a water-pumping system driven by playing children? He deployed the first two pumps in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal Province in 1994, and they're still working today. The cost to provide water to a person using the PlayPumps system breaks down to about $0.60 per year.

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Nice, no?

Water Is the Next Oil [Fool.com] April 17, 2007

Some things about this wonderful organisation:

"PlayPumps International is a nonprofit collaborative that enables individuals, governments, foundations, and companies to donate PlayPump™ water systems to rural African communities and schools. Donors to PlayPumps International help improve the lives of children and their families by providing easy access to clean drinking water, enhancing public health, and offering play equipment to millions across Africa.
We will carry out our mission by installing thousands of PlayPump systems throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, which will bring clean water to up to 10 million people over the next three years. Nearly 900 PlayPump systems have already been installed in southern Africa."

Click here to go to PlayPump International