LIFE-ENHANCER OF THE YEAR

When Lagos-based designer Nifemi Marcus-bello asked local medical professionals to identify the challenges of fighting Covid-19, they told him that effective handwashing can be difficult at overburdened healthcare facilities. Moving from one patient to the next quickly leaves little time to dash to the sink. Marcus-bello’s solution was to create a portable, modular handwashing station, using a grant he’d received from Samuel Ross of A-cold-wall* and artist Daniel Arsham. The station’s frame of tubular steel, the same material used for local hospital beds, can be replicated by any welder. A sink, bin, and the casing for the pump and touch-free sensor are created by local ceramicists, though Marcus-bello hopes to partner with a local recyclable plastic firm on future iterations. Caster wheels and 25-litre water kegs (one for clean water, one for used) are readily available. With a battery-powered micro submersible pump that can run for 48 hours on a two-hour charge, the station, dubbed ‘For the Community by the Community’, can be pushed from ward to ward. nmbello.com