Boreshahoa
Monday May 4, 2020
Abdikadir Adan aged 39 and a father of 9 children, lives in Dolow, Somalia. He is the owner of Horseed Garage, winner of an award in 2019 under the Grant Fund Facility of BORESHA under the Grow Your Business category.
Established in 2016, Horseed Garage is currently the main auto mechanics business in Dollow District specializing in the maintenance and repair of all types of vehicles, air conditioners and diesel generators for both electricity generation and farm irrigation.
Besides managing these services, Abdikadir also designs and fabricates tools and small machines using locally available materials and his welding machine. In the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Abdikadir has designed hands-free hand washing equipment which is activated by foot pedals.
This is how it works: by pressing one of the pedals, the machine releases soap and by pressing the other, water flows out of the tap! The pressure on the pedal controls the quantity of the liquid soap and the flow of water.
It is simple and easy to use and currently in great demand not only with the local households and businesses but also NGOs and donors operating in Somalia. Its sales are increasing awareness of the community about safe hand washing while at the same time generating income for the business.
Explaining his innovation, Abdikadir says “The idea of innovation has been always on my mind. As a mechanic and technician, I always think about new ideas to improve the work I am doing. The new hand washing facility which can be used without using hands came to my mind after
COVID-19 hit our country, Somalia. I realized we needed a different technology other than normal hand washing facility in order to ensure safe hand washing to prevent the disease.’’