There’s more to the installation of the Lorentz SmartTaps at the first two sites located at health centers in the Kananga. Really, the installation of the Lorentz SmartTaps sounds easy. That is, the installation will be almost a regular old plumbing repair. Simply, we demolish the existing concrete water stand with its damaged spigots and install the two new SmartTaps at each location. But we all know that some expected plumbing jobs don’t go as planned. You discover something does not fit as it is supposed to because the last installation of the water stands and spigots didn’t go as planned either.
The more difficult part of installation of the new SmartTaps will be dealing with the people. We will have to train the Water Seller how to use a modern smartphone. Yes, there is an app for it. The SmartTap app is simple. But it is more work and not as simple as taking someone's money. Initially, we will keep it simple and just let the Water Seller just sell water credit. They will take the SmartTap tag from the customer which will probably be a teenage girl or young woman. The Water Seller will have to determine whether the woman wants to buy a specific number of liters or they want a specific monetary amount of water or they want to buy a basin of water. That is, I want to buy 20 liters (the unit of measurement) or I want to buy 200 francs (local currency in the Congo) of water or I want to buy a basin (what the water is home carried in) of water. The SmartTap has a simple calculator to handle either demand. If the woman wants 20 liters, the Water Seller will enter 20 next to liters and the calculator will display the francs required and the number of credits they will receive on their tag. Or if the woman wants to buy 200 francs worth of water, the Water Seller will enter 200 next to the FC and the calculator will display the liters and credits they will receive on their tag. Or finally, if the woman wants to buy two basins of water, the Water Seller will enter 2 next to the basin and the calculator will display the liters and the number credits they will receive on their tag. The Water Seller can show the woman the calculator and ask her if she wants to complete the transaction. If so, the Water Seller taps PROCEED and places the tag on the back of the smartphone, and the SmartTap app displays the current balance of credits on the tag and then taps TRANSFER to complete the sale and transfer the credits to their tag.
I think this will be easy learning for both the Water Seller and the woman customer. Typically, girls and women are the shopper in the household. And they are the daily shopper, too. But, can we change their cultural norms to buy additional water credits in advance? As you see, the SmartTap dispenser will add some complexities to getting water. And, if the women WILL NOT or CAN NOT purchase in advance more than a single basin of water, it will require more time for them to get water. In my observation of Congolese purchasing credit for calls, text, and data for their phones, most Congolese WILL NOT purchase their immediate needs.
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