Joe Issa Proud of Jamaican Invention that is Rescuing US City

Joe Issa, founder of the successful Cool brand of products and a champion for youth innovation and out-of-the-box thinking, is wowed by a portable shower invented by entrepreneur Jovan Evans for Jamaican, but are being used in the United States to solve water woes.

 

“I am proud of Mr. Evans; this invention, with such great utility value as far away as the US, called for much imagination and creativity. I would also like to commend his backers for putting their faith in the young man’s ability,” says Issa, who is a mentor at the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship " Caribbean, which Evans attended.

 

Created for Jamaicans living in areas where there is a consistent lack of access to running water, the impact of the Pump-n-Spray has been felt as far away as the United States, where one civic leader in Flint, Michigan described it as a miracle idea that will aid residents there as they cope with lead-contaminated water supply, according to an article in The Gleaner newspaper.

 

A Washington-based non-profit organization, Servants Without Borders (SWB) is said to have partnered with Evans to create the Pump-n-Spray, which “transforms a four- or five-gallon bottle of water into a portable shower with the same pressure as a standard indoor shower.”

 

The breakthrough for Evans is said to have come when one of the principals of SWB, Jamaican Colin Duncan, learnt of the invention while on a working visit to Jamaica. “Upon returning home, it clicked that the residents dealing with the crisis in Flint, Michigan, could benefit from this simple, yet useful invention,” he is quoted as saying.

 

Soon after, having vetted the idea, an SWB team visited Flint and met with residents, civic leaders and officials who expressed immediate interested in the Pump-n-Spray. Last month, SWB distributed approximately 200 with a second distribution planned soon, the article said.

 

The Jamaican invention is said to have the potential of impacting some 45,000 homes in the city of Flint, which is experiencing a water crisis. The Pump-n-Spray will enable residents “to take showers, wash dishes, and begin to introduce a sense of normalcy to daily activities,” Duncan is reported to have said, adding, “Designed as a solution for a common Third World problem, this portable shower is helping to solve a crisis in a First World city.”

 

“Evan’s success is the result of thinking out-of-the-box, something I encourage young people to practice…we have many other problems which can be similarly solved by exercising imagination and creativity, while seeking to monetize invented solutions, not only here, but also internationally,” says Issa, who is taking his local Cool brands to the global market through the Cool Group of over 50 companies.