Entering the World of Social Entrepreneurs

While watching TV with a couple friends recently a commercial came on that made us all laugh as we made the connection to our own lives. The commercial started by simply defining entrepreneur as being, another way to say unemployed. Since all of us are in international development we are all aware of the various enterprises we have seen succeed as well as the many that have failed and how this can translate to unemployment. 

After sometime however I realized just how untrue this is. This term we have started taking a social entrepreneurship class which has opened my eyes to many things that I had previously been missing, such as the many great ideas that exist and "employ" entrepreneurs all over the world. One that stood out to me in particular was the idea of Playpumps. The idea behind Playpumps is simple, children are simultaneously playing on the roundabout borehole while pumping out of the ground. In theory the idea is brilliant-it brings on things that both young and old would enjoy, fun and clean water.

However, there are some flaws with the very basic model behind the Playpumps. One large issue is that it assumes children globally have the same idea of fun. Many children may not view the roundabout as a means of fun ultimately turning the Playpump into an extreme energy suck for many women and children to simply access safe drinking water. There is also the issue of needing to access water at various points throughout the day. So, even if the children originally believed the Playpump to be fun it often becomes a source a work for them that is not as enjoyable as intended.

Despite these flaws the ideals behind the Playpump are fantastic in my mind. These issues to me are really a result of the Playpump becoming too mainstream as well as the large number of donors wanting to support the idea. You wouldn't normally believe financial support from donors to be negative, but in this particular instance (and many others I am sure) it is. With large quantities of money being directed at the project, there was a decrease in ability to introduce the Playpumps at a local level and create them to suit each location based on the individuals who would be utilizing the Playpumps. As we have discussed in our social entrepreneurship class there is large amount of tension that exists when trying to create a social enterprise. In this case there is the conflict between needing money to continue the enterprise and creating a product to suit your clients.

To me this is just one example that has so much potential so long as we hold onto our core values. As I approach graduation with my classmates it is becoming increasingly prevalent that we will be the future social entrepreneurs of the world and we have the ability to invoke social change. There is still much we can learn from past and current entrepreneurs, hopefully we will step up and be the change we want to see.