9-Year-Old Boy Builds Handwashing Station

It’s common knowledge that washing your hands regularly is key to preventing the spread of COVID-19. But what if handwashing isn’t accessible where you live? A 9-year-old Kenyan boy tackled this problem by inventing and building a handwashing machine. (1)

Stephen Wamukota lives in Mukwa village in Bungoma County in Kenya. He came up with the idea for the handwashing machine after learning that keeping your hands clean helps keep you safe from COVID-19. Wamukota wanted to create a machine that would allow the people in his village to wash their hands without touching anything with them. There have been more than 2,000 coronavirus cases reported in Kenya. (1)

Wamukota’s father, James, told CNN, “The first time the president announced COVID-19 infection in our country, it was said that everyone should wash their hands regularly to prevent the virus. My son told me that time that he had come up with a structure to help make handwashing easier.” (1)

Ingenious Design

Wamukota told CNN that he was inspired by a television program that showed how to assemble toy cars. He thought he could use a similar approach to build a handwashing station. (1)

The 9-year-old said that he spent four days building his first machine. On the first day, he gathered materials, like timber and nails. He spent the second and third day building the machine. And Wamukota asked his father to help him finish the handwashing machine on the fourth day. (1)

One day, after returning home from his job repairing electronics, James noticed that his son had built his machine with wood he’d planned to use for a window frame. “I saw that what he built wasn’t stable so I helped him make some adjustments. I didn’t want it to fall apart,” James recounted to CNN. (1)

The handwashing machine has a wooden frame. The two-foot pedals release soap and water. When users step on one of the foot pedals, it causes a fixture to press down on a soap dispenser, delivering soap into their hands. The other pedal releases water from a small plastic water tank. The foot pedals allow people to wash up without touching any part of the machine with their hands. (1)

While Wamukota may have taken his inspiration from television, he already had the skills he needed to design and build his machine. His father said that he learned these skills through Kenya’s primary school curriculum, which teaches children how to build from a young age. (1)

Recognizing Talent

Although Wamukota is just nine years old, people are already taking notice of his inventiveness. He was the youngest of 68 Kenyans to earn a presidential award on Monday, June 1, 2020. And Wycliffe Wangamati, the governor of Bungoma County, has promised Wamukota a scholarship to a school that can nurture his talents. (1)

“We are waiting for school to open to contact him about his promise. [The governor] told me that once school opens, he will give him a scholarship to a school that can match his talents,” Wamukota’s father, James, said to CNN. (1)

Wamukota dreams of being an engineer and has told his father that he wants to build factories. James hopes that the presidential award will open doors for his son. For now, though, Wamukota is focused on his handwashing machines. He has already made a second and hopes to build more. (1, 2)