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Demotech has a specific reason to use Internet, in our opinion the most potent way to find cooperation and support on the issue of counteracting Poverty with an alternative approach.

Demotech is a non-profit organization, active in development of technology, useful for people in the extreme lower income groups, in developing countries. This work is done since 1970. Demotech is based in the Netherlands.

What we aim at in general, is illustrated with Demotech's design of a hand pump for water wells and bore holes. Trough this design, local users can decide to make this pump, or have it made locally, as all materials needed are either for free or affordable.

The common expectation is that local technology results in sub-standard technical items. However the actual results have convinced the local user as the open-minded engineers from donor organizations of their overall superb quality.

Basic for this result was to treat the design as SOFTWARE; To be more accurate, as FREEWARE, In this metaphor the software is the information available through instruction, in a manual or in a video.
The hardware is the ability of local people, their tools and their structure of organization. Different from the normal approach in development projects is that no HARDWARE, f.e. money, materials or tools are brought in as a gift. In our projects of introduction of new techniques, the instructor bring nothing but her or his ability to make the thing with her or his own hands, with the tools and materials locally found together with the help of the future user or future manufacturer.

Once tried out and accepted, local users may reproduce the design for their own use, or to do some business with. In this way thousands of these Rope Pumps were made in countries where the results could be traced: Indonesia en Nicaragua.