AID Foundation selected as finalist for BBC World Challenge

Ashden award-winner the AID Foundation Inc. (AIDFI) has been selected from over 800 nominations by BBC World Challenge as one of twelve pioneering grassroots projects from across the world. It has been chosen for its innovative work providing water using hydraulic ram pumps to rural villages in the Philippines. The judging panel, consisting of the Heads of international development, news and banking organisations, has recognised the hydraulic ram pump is an idea whose time has finally come.

Voting for the overall winner will be on www.theworldchallenge.co.uk from 27 September until 12 November 2010.

For people living in villages in the mountainous regions of the Philippines, the back-breaking work of travelling down steep slopes to collect water is a daily necessity. With a limited water supply, cooking and drinking are prioritised over using water for agriculture and hygiene which leads to greater illness and more limited economic activity. The ram pump uses a very simple mechanism, without the input of electricity or fossil fuels. It works by using the power of a river’s flow to literally push water uphill. And it has revolutionised life for people living in rural Philippines. Ram pumps are saving villagers both time and money when they replace expensive diesel-powered or electric pumps as well as being better for the environment. So far AIDFI have installed ram pumps in over 170 villages in the Philippines and has started installations in Cambodia and Afghanistan.

For information on AIDFI and to view a film of their work, visit our website.

Ram pump installed in Cambodia