By Matthias Saladin | Project leader
Dear supporters,
We just received news from the Global Giving Foundation that very soon our supporters will be able to donate by sending a text message from their cellular phone. The best part of it is that 100% of the donation goes to the project. This is very exciting news and we shortly will inform you about the details.
We also wanted to let you know how our project to develop a low-cost indicator for Solar Water Disinfection (SODIS) is developing. We have just completed a series of calibration tests with our prototype, which gave us proof that we are on track. The next step for this project now is to produce a small series of prototypes with an improved form factor so that we can give them to potential users of the product. This is very important as the acceptance and user friendliness of a product determine the value it provides to the user. We therefore are now raising funds to produce the small series of prototypes for field testing.
Over the past months, we have adjusted our primary target audience for the SODIS indicator. Initially, we expected that this would be a device which can help every person or family who wants to purify drinking water with the SODIS method to determine the exact moment when the water is safe for drinking. However, given that most of these people earn less than 1 dollar per day, they are unlike to be able to purchase such a product. Giving the indicators for free is an option, but this creates inequalities (who do we give it to?) and inefficiencies (there are no established channels for widely distributing free products). Additionally, we perceived that free products are often considered of low value by the beneficiaries. Thus, we think that a better strategy is to develop a product which will help people like teachers or health promoters to train others on how to do SODIS. If this promotion process can be supported by the SODIS indicator, we may reach additional people, and more people will be willing to try the method for a first time.
Best regards from the whole project team,
Matthias Saladin
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