Kenya: 9-year-old boy invents hand-washing machine to protect himself from Covid-19

Many hours spent listening to appeals about the need to limit the spread of Covid-19, a few pieces of wood, and a fair amount of ingenuity. Thus, at just nine years old, Stephen Wamukota invented a hand-washing machine that reduces waste of water and soap, certainly limited resources in a small Kenyan village.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus, why soap kills it. But it takes twenty seconds to work.

Kenyan boy invents hand-washing machine

In Mukwa, a village a few kilometers from Bungoma, the capital of the western Kenyan county of the same name, all the residents congratulate little Stephen on his wit and ingenuity, and are proud of him. His family especially, so much so that his father, the first to tell the BBC about his son's work , contributed to the social media success of the hand-washing machine by posting a photo that immediately went viral. Little Stephen, in fact, has manual skills and inventiveness in his blood: he's always watched his father repair appliances, and he's naturally at ease with the mechanical parts he finds around the house. Mr. James, however, swears he didn't help him with anything, but simply tidied it up at the end: "I had bought some pieces of wood to make a window frame," he states in his interview, "but when I returned home one afternoon, I discovered that Stephen had built the machine. It was his idea, and I simply helped him fix it."

The handwashing machine now stands proudly in the center of the village, the fruit of the young inventor's reflection on the need to protect oneself from the coronavirus pandemic without wasting water and detergents—limited resources that are hard to come by where he lives—and without touching unhygienic containers, considering that before his invention, the village lacked a suitable washhouse. The operation is very simple: a system of levers and a pedal activate gears that dispense water and detergent, which need to be refilled every so often. Without much effort and, above all, without waste.

READ MORE: Coronavirus, how to wash your hands properly in 40 seconds. If you don't do it this way, you're just wasting time and soap.

STEPHEN WAMUKOTA

The invention of the handwashing machine has allowed Stephen and his family to secure their future: the young inventor's ingenuity has been recognized by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who has included him among the 68 winners of the Uzalendo Prize, a prestigious national award that this year honors those who have distinguished themselves in the fight against the coronavirus. What's more, Stephen Wamukota, who, needless to say, wants to become an engineer when he grows up, will receive a scholarship to complete his studies and fulfill his dream. He will continue to be essential to his people and his country.

(Featured image and accompanying text taken from the Facebook page Mobile Journalism Africa )

CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL:

• Global warming, temperatures rising despite coronavirus
• Aircraft emissions cuts postponed until 2027. Coronavirus backtracks
• Postal services and weather forecasts: here are the unthinkable consequences of the Covid-19 emergency.
• Coronavirus: In Great Britain, the government pays half the restaurant bill.
• Coronavirus, the war for the vaccine. Who will lose? The poorest countries.