In the business of betterment

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

A local teenager is hoping to provide the necessities of life to some of the poorest people on the planet.

It was in Africa where 16-year-old Curtis Clifford would be impacted by the level of poverty experienced by residents of the village he visited.

So Clifford, along with the help of his brother Cole, set to work and has been developing a solar-powered water pump, which he hopes can be used by those in poverty stricken regions around the world.

The Grade 12 student at Trinity College School would put his top marks to good use, and spent the summer running his own business in order to fund the project.

Some of the money he earned from his business, which was partially funded by government grants, was put towards a personal project he hopes will benefit the less fortunate. The rest he put away for his university education.

The seed was planted several years ago while Clifford was on vacation with his family in Africa, during which they were also doing some volunteer work.

In Zambia, Clifford witnessed the efforts people underwent in order to get water from the ground.

“I was personally taken aback by the fact that, one, they either had some form of derelict, gas-powered pump that was smoking and breaking down every day, or they had some guy that was as thin as a toothpick, pedalling as hard as he possibly could on a bike to run a pump to pump the water,” Clifford says.

Now, that seed has developed into a solar-powered pump. The simple contraption employs a pair of solar panels connected to a direct current pump, which pulls the water through a length of hose.

In order to fund the development of his pump, Clifford started his own mobile car detailing business which he named Splash Works Mobile, and through his work this summer he was able to gain more than enough funds for the project.

His company’s sole employee, Clifford worked long days detailing cars to turn his business into a success. Clifford says customers liked the idea of his business, in which he brought the detailing operation to them, instead of the other way around.

By allowing customers to have their cars cleaned in the parking lot of their office or in the driveway of their home was a big draw, Clifford says.

With the money he earned, Clifford spent his spare time developing the pump and testing it.

Through camping trips around the region, Clifford was able to refine his design and finally land on a working contraption.

Now, with his prototype developed, Clifford hopes he can attract investors or philanthropists who can help him refine the pump and get it to the people who need it most for the pumping of drinking water or to be used for irrigation.

He envisions the pump can be purchased and donated through people willing to help those in poor regions.

“The whole idea behind me making this is to make it affordable for people, so that it can be donated,” he says. “I want to make sure it’s as affordable as possible so you can get it to as many people as possible because I’m sure people aren’t going to buy it in Africa. People who want to donate and give back are going to buy them and donate them.”

For more information on Clifford and his project visit https://clifford-solar-water-pump.squarespace.com/#home-page or email fredclifford@outlook.com.