Photo credit/Deutsch Welle

In the Sub-Saharan African countries where Bread and Water for Africa® works, health care systems are underfunded and poorly equipped; climate change has caused everything from severe drought to cyclones, and food and clean water are in short supply.
Now, during the global coronavirus pandemic, “Poverty turns lockdowns into a death sentence,” states a recent Time magazine report.
Thanks to our supporters, since COVID-19 began spreading around the world earlier this year, we have been able to continue to provide life-saving assistance that will benefit tens of thousands of African children, parents and elders in countries including such as shipping medicines and medical supplies for use at hospitals and clinics in Ethiopia and Sierra Leone, providing emergency funding to children’s homes in Zambia and Zimbabwe, and continuing our clean water development initiative in Uganda.
This sad predicament has caused some to come up with innovative ways to help deal the with the problem in their countries, such as a young inventor in Ethiopia, Ezedine Kamil, an 18-year-old natural science student.
Deutsche Welle reported earlier this month that Ezedine has 30 inventions to his credit so far, 13 of which have been patented.
The onslaught of the virus presented a unique opportunity to Ezedine who first designed a contactless electrical soap dispenser with a built-in sensor, which could also be operated using a mechanical pedal during power blackouts — a common occurrence in Ethiopia.
And, his invention has been embraced by the local community where 50 dispensers have been produced by the local university and distributed in banks and local hospitals in his town of Welkite.
We commend Ezedine and his determination to make the best of a terrible situation for the benefit of others.