As part of an aid project spearheaded by CARE Deutschland e.V., 100 Watercones® were shipped to Yemen in December 2003 to demonstrate their ability to serve as "portable waterworks" and produce clean drinking water for people. "According to the World Health Organization, up to 80 percent of all diseases in children under five years of age are attributable to the consumption of contaminated water. The shortage of water in Yemen is one reason the country has a high child mortality rate of 8.5 percent," says Diana Hedrich, Yemen project manager for CARE Deutschland. Ten families in the two fishing villages "Scheich Salem" and "Al Gariib" were each given ten Watercones® to test for two months. With the help of the Watercones®, the families can get one-fifth of the water they need every day without spending a lot of time and energy gathering it. The next well for the two villages is located 15 km away. Moreover, it only rains about three times a year in the region.

CARE in Yemen

CARE is one of the largest private humanitarian organizations in the world, and its work is politically, ethnically and religiously independent. CARE has been in Yemen since 1993 and currently has 14 local and four international staff members working to overcome poverty, water and food shortages. The over 20 development projects implemented by CARE in Yemen have reached over one million people, helping to improve water supplies, community life and the agricultural yields of small-scale farmers. To plan and carry out projects, CARE works closely with the local population and attaches great importance to the promotion of local initiatives. For more information go to www.care.org

The assistance project is sponsored by Zeltec Distributions and Bayer MaterialScience. Bayer MaterialScience donated the Makrolon® polycarbonate raw material and Bayer Polymers Sheet Europe the Makrolon®  sheets for 1,000 Watercones®, which were then manufactured by Zeltec Distributions.

Additional projects with humanitarian organizations are already being planned.

December 18, 2003: The Watercone® on the way to Yemen; from left: Hans-Dieter Reifenrath, head of brand management at Bayer MaterialScience AG, Diana Hedrich, Yemen project manager for Care Deutschland e.V. and Hans Joachim Droste, president of Zeltec Distributions GmbH