Millions of people around the world need an alternative to handwashing clothes to save time, reduce water waste and improve their quality of life. The worlds poorest don't have the money, electricity or mains water supply to use an electric washing machine.

At the Washing Machine Project, we believe that it doesn't have to be this way. We are on a mission to produce an innovative hand-powered washing machine.

Nav started this project while living in a rural village in India with limited access to water and electricity. He had a lovely next-door neighbour, Divya, who he became good friends with.

Whenever they spoke, she would be doing labour-intensive tasks, such as cooking, and washing dishes and clothes by hand. She would do this for the entire evening. It occurred to Nav that he could make a washing machine for Divya and help improve her life. When he told her about this idea, her eyes lit up. She loved it!

Your donations, along with support from Oxfam, allowed us to send 50 washing machines to women like Divya in Iraqi refugee camps in February. These washing machines are already making a meaningful difference to the lives of the people living in camps during this challenging time.

We are now in the process of developing the ‘Divya Two’, which we hope to pilot this year. We’re really happy to partner with Care International who have ordered 30 ‘Divya Two’ prototypes to provide to communities in Erbil, Iraq. This will impact 300 people and could save up to 750 hours annually per household. We are also proud to be partnering with Engineers Without Borders Australia and Plan International Jordan this year as well.

Please donate if you can.