Episode 005: The Seastar of Clean Water for Uganda; Barika Poole

Public Health in Clean Water Non Profit & NGO Director

Barika Poole, NGO executive director for Spouts is an incredible human being. Originally from Connecticut, she finds herself these days living and helping get a basic right to people in Uganda, so that they may have a fighting chance at developing economy and a safe and healthy country. 

A masters of environmental engineering, educated MIT, Barika's life is devoted to making the world better for people. Barika directs Spouts with their incredible mission and wears many hats in her role. Spouts has a simple mission. They want to stop the pain of drinking unsafe water for Africa. They are starting in Uganda. Spouts produces and distributes ceramic filters to Ugandans. They've helped hundreds of thousands of people to date. Each filter costs $25 and provides clean water for 2-5 years per household. Each one of these filters has incredible benefits not just for the families but also for the planet. This saves each family the cost and the planet 2 tons of wood and 2.5 tons of carbon emissions PER FILTER! That is insane. Next time you don't know what to get someone for a birthday or holiday present, this is it. 

Mel and Barika talk about her career path and experiences that led her to Uganda, the fact that we can't take "things" with us when we die, and all sorts of good book recommendations. 

You can find Barika at @barikap and @spoutsofwater on IG.

Try Overdrive to read for free, all you need is a library card! Write down and download all the book recommendations in this podcast for continued listening and exploration of this topic. Also head over to melrosemoney for the blog on this topic as well.