So I grew up in Limpopo, on the border of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, a little town called Motetema. Water and electricity supply are as unpredictable as the weather, and growing up in these tough situations, at the age of 17, I was relaxing with a couple of friends of mine in winter, and we were sunbathing. The Limpopo sun gets really hot in winter. So as we were sunbathing, my best friend next to me says, "Man, why doesn't somebody invent something that you can just put on your skin and then you don't have to bathe?" And I sat, and I was like, "Man, I would buy that, eh?"
Tao Limpopo no nahalehibe ahy, sisin-tany manasaraka an'i Limpopo sy Mpumalanga, tanàna kely iray antsoina hoe Motetema. Tsy dia azo antoka izay ihany ny famatsian-drano sy jiro, toy ny toetrandro tsy mena-mivadika, ary ny niaina tao anatin'izany toe-javatra sarotra izany, teo amin'ny faha-17 taona, niara-nanala azy tamina namana maromaro aho, ririnina ny andro tamin'izay, nitaninandro izahay. Mahamay be ny masoandro any Limpopo rehefa ririnina. Teo am-pitanihana andro dia niteny tamiko ilay namako teo akaikiko. "O lety e, tokony mba misy olona mamorona zavatra ahosotra amin'ny hoditra l'ty dia tsy mila mandro intsony a!" Nipetraka aho ary namaly hoe: "tonga dia vidiako be raha misy an'izany!"
So I went home, and I did a little research, and I found some very shocking statistics. Over 2.5 billion people in the world today do not have proper access to water and sanitation. Four hundred and fifty million of them are in Africa, and five million of them are in South Africa. Various diseases thrive in this environment, the most drastic of which is called trachoma. Trachoma is an infection of the eye due to dirt getting into your eye. Multiple infections of trachoma can leave you permanently blind. The disease leaves eight million people permanently blind each and every year. The shocking part about it is that to avoid being infected with trachoma, all you have to do is wash your face: no medicine, no pills, no injections.
Nody aho rehefa avy eo, ary nanao fikarohana kely, ary nahita ireto antontan'isa nanaitra ireto. Ankehitriny dia maherin'ny 2,5 lavitrisa ny olona eto an-tany no tsy manana rano madio sy fidiovana manara-penitra. 450 tapitrisa amin'ireo no any Afrika, ary 5 tapitrisa amin'izany ao Afrika Atsimo. Betsaka ireo aretina miroborobo ao anatin'ny tontolo toa izany, ny tena mampivarahontsana amin'ireo dia ny "trachome". Aretin'ny maso vokatry ny loto mankany amin'ny maso izy io. Mety miteraka fahajambana tanteraka ny Trachome raha mihombo be loatra. 8 tapitrisa ny olona efa jamban'ny trachome isan-taona. Ny tena mampivarahontsana amin'ilay izy dia zavatra tsotra kely toy ny fanasàna tarehy no hany fisorohana ny "trachome": tsy mila fanafody na tsindrona.
So after seeing these shocking statistics, I thought to myself, "Okay, even if I'm not just doing it for myself and the fact that I don't want to bathe, I at least need to do it to try to save the world." (Laughter) So with my trusty little steed, my Nokia 6234 cell phone -- I didn't have a laptop, I didn't have Internet much, except for the 20-rand-an-hour Internet cafe — I did research on Wikipedia, on Google, about lotions, creams, the compositions, the melting points, the toxicities -- I did high school science -- and I wrote down a little formula on a piece of paper, and it looked like the KFC special spice, you know?
Rehefa nahita ireo antontan'isa ireo aho, dia nieritreritra, "Na dia hoe tsy ho ahy aza, sy ny hoe izaho tsy tia mandro, farafaharatsiny mba tokony hanao zavatra aho hanavotana an'izao tontolo izao." (Hehy) Nampiasaiko ny Nokia 6234-ko-- Tsy nanana solosaina portable aho, tsy dia mbola afaka nigalabona tamin'ny aterineto ihany koa, ankoatran'ilay cybercafé andoavana 20 rand isan'ora eo an-tanàna-- nanao fikarohana tamin'ny Wikipedia, Google aho momba ireo fanafody ahosotra, herotra fanosotra, ireo taharo, ny mari-pàna mampitsonika azy, ny heriny sy ny loza mety aterany-- Nianatra siansa aho teny amin'ny Anjerimanontolo-- ary namorona raikipohy (formule) kely, nataoko an-taratasy, ary toy ila sakay kely mampiavaka ny akoho nendasina KFC ilay izy, azonareo angamba ny tiako hambara.
So I was like, okay, so we've got the formula ready. Now we need to get this thing into practice. Fast forward four years later, after having written a 40-page business plan on the cell phone, having written my patent on the cell phone, I'm the youngest patent-holder in the country, and — ("No more bathing!") — I can't say any more than that. (Laughter) I had invented DryBath, the world's first bath-substituting lotion. You literally put it on your skin, and you don't have to bathe. (Laughter)
Vonona ity ny "formule". Mila fampiharana sisa. Efatra taona taty aoriana, rehefa vita ny drafitra tetikasa 40 pejy natao tamin'ny finday, vita koa ny brevet, izaho no zandriny indrindra amin'ireo manana brevet d'invention ao amin'ny firenena, ary--("Tsy mila mandro intsony!")-- Izany ihany no azoko lazaina. (Hehy) Namorona ny DryBath aho, fanosotra voalohany eto an-tany mahasolo ny fandroana amin'ny rano. Ahosotra amin'y hoditra izy io, dia tsy mila mandro intsony avy eo. (Hehy)
So after having tried to make it work in high school with the limited resources I had, I went to university, met a few people, got it into practice, and we have a fully functioning product that's ready to go to the market. It's actually available on the market. So we learned a few lessons in commercializing and making DryBath available. One of the things we learned was that poor communities don't buy products in bulk. They buy products on demand. A person in Alex doesn't buy a box of cigarettes. They buy one cigarette each day, even though it's more expensive. So we packaged DryBath in these innovative little sachets. You just snap them in half, and you squeeze it out. And the cool part is, one sachet substitutes one bath for five rand. After creating that model, we also learned a lot in terms of implementing the product. We realized that even rich kids from the suburbs really want DryBath. (Laughter) At least once a week. Anyway, we realized that we could save 80 million liters of water on average each time they skipped a bath, and also we would save two hours a day for kids who are in rural areas, two hours more for school, two hours more for homework, two hours more to just be a kid.
Rehefa nezahana izay nampety azy teny amin'ny Anjerimanontolo, niaraka tamin'ny enti-manana kely nananana, dia niakatra fianarana ambony aho, nahafantatra olona vitsivitsy, nampihatra azy, ary niafarany dia nahavita ity vokatra mahomby izay vonona ny hamidy eny an-tsena. Efa azo vidiana eny amin'ny tsena io izao. Betsaka ireo lesona azo tamin'ny fivarotana sy famatsiana ny DryBath. Ny iray tamin'ireo dia ny olona avy amin'ny fiaraha-monina sahirana dia tsy mividy vokatra ambongadiny. Mividy an-tsinjarany no ataony. Ny olona any Alex dia tsy mividy sigara amin'ny fonosany. Sigara iray no vidiany isan'andro, na dia lafolafo kokoa ary izany. Noho izany dia natao tamin'ny fonosany madinika ny DryBath. Tatahana ilay fonosany dia potserina hivoaka ny ao anatiny. ary ny milay aminilay izy, dia ny iray fonosana dia mahasolo fandroana iray ary andoavana 5 rand. Rehefa vita io modely io, dia betsaka koa ireo lesona azo momba ny famatsina ilay vokatra. Hitanay fa na ireo zanaky ny mpanana avy any amin'ny sisin-tanàna aza dia nila ny DryBath. (Hehy) Na dia hoe indray mandeha isan-kerinandro fotsiny aza. Na dia izany aza, tsapanay fa afaka mitsitsy rano 80 tapitrisa litatra izahay isaky ny tsy mampiasa rano handroana ny olona ary ora roa isan'andro ihany koa no tombony azon'ny ankizy any amin'ireo faritra mbanivolo, mitombo adiny roa izany ny ora any an-tsekoly, adiny roa fanampiny hanaovana enti-mody, ary adiny roa tsotra izao hilalaovany amin'ny maha-zaza azy.
After seeing that global impact, we narrowed it down to our key value proposition, which was cleanliness and convenience. DryBath is a rich man's convenience and a poor man's lifesaver.
Rehefa hita ireo vokany isan-karazany ireo dia natao izay hifantohany amin'ny hevi-dehibe ijoroany, dia ny fahadiovana sy ny fanamorana ny fiainana. Manamora ny fiainan'ny mpanana ny DryBath ary mamonjy ny sahirana ihany koa.
Having put the product into practice, we are actually now on the verge of selling the product onto a multinational to take it to the retail market, and one question I have for the audience today is, on the gravel roads of Limpopo, with an allowance of 50 rand a week, I came up with a way for the world not to bathe. What's stopping you? (Applause) I'm not done yet. I'm not done yet. And another key thing that I learned a lot throughout this whole process, last year Google named me as one of the brightest young minds in the world. I'm also currently the best student entrepreneur in the world, the first African to get that accolade, and one thing that really puzzles me is, I did all of this just because I didn't want to bathe. Thank you. (Applause.)
Rehefa vita ny fampiharana rehetra, dia eo an-dàlana hivarota azy amina orinsa lehibe maneran-tany iray izahay hivarotra azy amin'ny mpaninjara, ary fanontaniako aminareo androany dia ny hoe, Avy amin'ireo làlana vatovato any Limpopo, 50r and isan-kerinandro no vatsy, Into aho ankehitriny nahita fomba iray hialàna amin'ny fandroana. Inona no manakana anareo? (Tehaka) Mbola tsy vita.Mbola tsy vita. Ary ny lesona lehibe iray ihany koa nadritra io tantara rehetra io, dia voahosotry Google ho anisan'ireo saina mahiratra indrindra eto an-tany aho. Izaho ihany koa no mpianatra sady mpandraharaha mahay indrindra eto an-tany, Afrikanina voalohany nahazo izay fankasitrahana izay ary ny zavatra tena mba nahagaga ahy dia ny tsy fitiavako mandro no nahavitako an'izany rehetra izany. Misaotra tompoko.