Hayley's Playground Pumps

"With Playground Pumps we can make a real difference to children, bringing clean water and tackling the problem of Guinea Worm" - Hayley Westenra

Almost 60% of schools in Ghana do not have access to safe water. Without fresh water, Guinea worm and other dangerous waterborne diseases quickly spread.

Join with Hayley and help 6,000 children gain access to safe water.

Just $35 per child will enable us to install Playground Pumps in 30 schools in Ghana, providing clean water for 6,000 children, and contributing to the eradication of Guinea Worm. 

Playground Pumps are a revolutionary idea - a water pump that doubles as a merry-go-round for children.

As children turn the roundabout they drive a water pump that pumps clean drinking water into storage tanks. By harnessing the boundless energy of children, the Playground Pump can produce 1,400 litres of water an hour. It keeps costs and maintenance to an absolute minimum, is eco-friendly, and ends the time consuming chore of collecting water - instead encouraging children to play!

While the health benefits of a clean water supply are critical, other benefits flow from the Playground Pump system as well. Children are playing and staying in school instead of hauling water. While they are having fun, children are learning self-confidence and interpersonal skills.

For all thirty schools, a local team of two caretakers and one mechanic per school will be trained to ensure maintenance and problem solving can be done locally in each community.

We urgently need your support for this project - just $35 will help us take clean water to 6,000 children.

Left: Hayley Westenra in Ghana with a young boy infected with Guinea Worm Disease. © UNICEF/Ghana/Jill Westenra

Guinea worm is a disease which you can get from drinking standing water, such as from a pond or well, which has tiny water fleas that are infected with the even tinier larvae of the Guinea worm. It can then grow up to three feet long, moving through the body and ending up near the skin, where it causes swelling and painful blisters. Worms have to be surgically removed or pulled out very gradually.