Two young Nigerian furniture-makers, Bamigbose Adams and Emmanuel Ogbu, are turning old metal drums into handwashing basins.

The recycled basins are then sold in Lagos. Africa News reports that in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, where clean hands are essential for preventing the spread of the virus, roughly 157 million Nigerians lack access to proper hand-washing facilities.

Adams said the idea to turn the drums into basins came to him after seeing that there were several dumpsites around the area where he lived. He said he could see there was a need to need to recycle at least some of the materials dumped into something meaningful and essential.

Adams team produces 10 basins a day. Hundreds have been produced thus far. He said, “Anyone willing to curb the spread of the virus is our customers, schools, hospitals. Recently we fabricated the handwashing basins to all the Federal Hospitals in Nigeria which was donated by Dettol Nigeria.”

According to the World Health Organization three billion people worldwide do not have access to basic facilities that would enable them to wash their hands regularly.

Umm Muhammed Umar