Warm Shower for Chile

Week by week, and drop to drop, twelve students from the Art Center College of Design are working towards social change.  In partnership with Un Techo Para Mi Pais, the students develop new tools for using, storing, and transporting water to improve the quality of life of impoverished families living in campamentos/slums in Chile.  Last week we witnessed how Nubia, Stella and Diane created a low-cost pressurized water system, adding convenience and safety to the families' daily tasks. This week, join Jesse and Narbeh and follow step by step how they develop a low-cost but real world potential warm shower for people living without running water or consistent electricity.

Convenience and Emotional Needs

Last week we learned how exhausting and unsafe it is for a person living in campamentos, to do laundry, wash dishes, or do any other daily task.  People living in campamentos have to struggle every day carrying water containers unlimited times in and out of the house.  We learned how their daily tasks are doubled and they may injure themselves in the process because of the lack of running water.  But living without  basic needs like water not only makes daily tasks more difficult, it also gets in the way of personal care and  the basic dignity and well-being of a warm shower.

In week 2 we learned that depression is one of many problems affecting people who live in campamentos.  Some people from campamentos, like Rosa, Noelia, and Maria, expressed their frustration and admitted to already being diagnosed with depression.  The feeling of unworthiness affects people's mental and physical states.  For these families, their limitations are becoming more of an emotional battle everyday.  Bringing comfort and relief to these people's lifestyles is something that Jesse and Narbeh committed themselves to work on. 

A warm shower may contribute to bring these families a sense of relief and help strengthen their self esteem.  Thus, innovators Jesse and Narbeh have created low-cost solutions for a warm shower.  They've presented three levels of investment, ranging form $7 to $17, each offering its own positive aspect.  

1. Gota a Gota: Has the ability to adapt and be resourceful to its environment, using the most minimal of new parts, and handful of found objects. 
2. Halo: Offers the ability to be placed on a stove and heated directly before being moved to the shower location. This requires mostly new parts but uses bare minimum equipment.
3. Metal Caliente/Hot Metal: The third and highest level of investment uses all brand new parts, and offers a foot valve to control the water flow. This one can give a ten minute shower before needing to be pumped again, but would require the water to be heated separately before being poured into the main reservoir.

(Halo Shower System)

In her testimony, Narbeh mentiones how everyone should be able to take a warm shower.  Indeed, taking a warm shower should be seen as a right not as a priviledge.  Fortunately, with the implementation of these potential products, families of campamentos will not have to struggle with washing by parts anymore. They will not have to fill up a bucket with preheated water and use a cup sized container to rinse themselves.  This process is time consuming and ineffective because it requires several containers of heated water which cool so quickly that, in the end, it's more like a cold shower and that can lead to illnesses like pneumonia. 

Next week,  join Will and Stephanie and follow step by step and drop to drop, as they innovate for a community laundry facility, bringing convenience and filling the emotional needs of families in campamentos. See you then!

To learn more about Jesse and Narbeh's product innovations, watch the presentation below.

Watch the testimony of Jesse and Narbeh.  We invite you to ask yourself how you can also make a change in your own community.  And remember... everyone can be a changemaker!