Business
Joel Mwale: Young entrepreneur moved to action after battling sickness
When Joel Mwale (pictured), was hospitalized with dysentery, his doctors advised him to focus his energies on making a full recovery.
The Kenyan student had caught the illness after consuming contaminated water distributed by his municipal council during the country’s annual dry season.
Upon his release from hospital Mwale invested his life savings, 10,000 Kenyan Shillings (US$95), in building a borehole in his village, a deep well that could reach the water flowing far beneath the ground.
With the help of local volunteers and tradesmen, he began digging on a patch of land close to his home and before long they struck water.
The start up has since helped Mwale bring clean drinking water to a much wider consumer base — selling 33,000 bottles in the last financial year alone, as well as providing a service that is more reliable and cheaper than those provided by the Kenyan government, he says.
It has also enabled him to provide for his family, offer employment to a growing number of people in his community and win him the Anzisha prize, an African award for innovation that comes with a US$30,000 prize.
