From January to March 2005 BBC World will profile examples of the kind of project we are looking for in the Hands On
short form programmes. These examples will also be profiled in Newsweek in a special advertising feature.

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9. WATER MERRY-GO-ROUND:
Pumping Water Is Child's Play In South Africa

In a village east of Johannesburg, South Africa, the unbridled energy of kids at play is being harnessed to bring water to needy communities.

Children at the Thabong nursery school in the town of Davieton love riding on the roundabout in their play yard. They have no idea that every time they go around, they are turning an underground windmill capable of pumping more than 360 gallons of water per hour. The Thabong play pump is irrigating a community market garden, giving jobs to people who had been unemployed.

But some towns are too poor to install a play pump, which can cost up to US$5,000. Trevor Field, a representative of Roundabout Outdoor Ltd., has devised a solution to this problem. In some communities, the play pump's overhead water storage tank is being used as an advertising billboard, the rentals of which pay for the cost of the pump.

Field has a vision of using the space for public service ads about the dangers of the growing HIV / AIDS epidemic in South Africa, an issue he cares deeply about. "If I can do that, and provide water for people, fun for children, and make women's lives easier in the rural areas, I sleep better at night."