Ludwick Marishane: A bath without water

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

譯者: 盧 曉天 審譯者: Sophie Wang

So I grew up in Limpopo, on the border of Limpopo

我在南非的林波波省長大

and Mpumalanga, a little town called Motetema.

一個離普馬蘭加省不遠 叫Motetema的小鎮

Water and electricity supply are as unpredictable

這裡的水電供應 跟天氣一樣很不穩定

as the weather, and growing up in these tough situations,

我就是在 這種艱困的環境中長大的

at the age of 17, I was relaxing with a couple of friends

17歲那年的冬天，我和幾個朋友

of mine in winter, and we were sunbathing.

正輕鬆地曬著太陽，做日光浴

The Limpopo sun gets really hot in winter.

林波波省的冬天陽光宜人

So as we were sunbathing, my best friend next to me says,

正享受著日光浴時 我的好朋友突然問我

"Man, why doesn't somebody invent something that you can

欸！為什麼沒有人發明一種東西

just put on your skin and then you don't have to bathe?"

可以直接塗在身上，就不用洗澡了？

And I sat, and I was like, "Man, I would buy that, eh?"

聽完我馬上坐了起來，心想 酷喔！有的話我一定買！

So I went home, and I did a little research,

回到家，我開始做一些研究

and I found some very shocking statistics.

發現一些驚人的數據

Over 2.5 billion people in the world today

全世界有超過25億人口

do not have proper access to water and sanitation.

沒有穩定的自來水源 和健全的下水道設施

Four hundred and fifty million of them are in Africa,

其中4億5千萬人在非洲

and five million of them are in South Africa.

又有5百萬人在南非

Various diseases thrive in this environment,

在這種環境中

the most drastic of which is called trachoma.

各種疾病肆虐

Trachoma is an infection of the eye due to dirt

其中最恐怖的病叫 粒性結膜炎 （又名沙眼）

getting into your eye. Multiple infections of trachoma

沙眼是一種因為眼睛進沙 進而感染的疾病

can leave you permanently blind.

多處感染可能導致永久失明

The disease leaves eight million people permanently blind

因為這種病而失明的病患 每年高達800萬人

each and every year. The shocking part about it

最諷刺的是，預防沙眼沒什麼訣竅

is that to avoid being infected with trachoma,

只要養成洗臉的好習慣

all you have to do is wash your face:

就不用擔心沙眼找上你

no medicine, no pills, no injections.

不用吃藥也不用打針

So after seeing these shocking statistics, I thought to myself,

看完這些恐怖的數據後

"Okay, even if I'm not just doing it for myself

我心想

and the fact that I don't want to bathe, I at least need

這樣吧！ 就算不是為了實現不洗澡的願望

to do it to try to save the world." (Laughter)

我也應該來拯救世界（笑聲）

So with my trusty little steed, my Nokia 6234 cell phone --

所以，全靠這支神機 諾基亞6234

I didn't have a laptop, I didn't have Internet much,

因為我沒有筆電，網路也不方便

except for the 20-rand-an-hour Internet cafe —

這邊只有一小時70塊的網咖

I did research on Wikipedia, on Google, about lotions,

我上維基百科和谷歌做功課

creams, the compositions, the melting points, the toxicities --

找了和乳液、乳霜相關的各種資料 研究它們的成分、溶點和毒性

I did high school science --

於是，我用高中自然課學過的概念

and I wrote down a little formula on a piece of paper,

寫下了簡易配方

and it looked like the KFC special spice, you know?

還真像肯德基的獨門辣椒醬配方

So I was like, okay, so we've got the formula ready.

我心想，既然都有配方了

Now we need to get this thing into practice.

應該來實際做做看

Fast forward four years later, after having written

時間快轉到四年後

a 40-page business plan on the cell phone,

我用手機

having written my patent on the cell phone,

寫了一份40頁的商業計畫書 和專利說明書

I'm the youngest patent-holder in the country,

我成為全國最年輕的專利權人

and — ("No more bathing!") —

我的專利就是－再也不用洗澡了！

I can't say any more than that. (Laughter)

不解釋（笑聲）

I had invented DryBath, the world's first

"乾洗澡"終於成功了！

bath-substituting lotion.

世界上第一個 可以代替洗澡水的乳液

You literally put it on your skin, and you don't have to bathe.

只要把它塗在身上，就不用洗澡

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So after having tried to make it work in high school

高中時

with the limited resources I had, I went to university,

我用有限的資源研發乾洗澡

met a few people, got it into practice,

上大學後

and we have a fully functioning product that's ready

我和一些朋友 終於把構想變為現實

to go to the market. It's actually available on the market.

乾洗澡也就這樣上市了

So we learned a few lessons in commercializing

為此 我們也學會如何行銷

and making DryBath available.

如何滿足客戶需求

One of the things we learned was that poor communities

我們發現貧困人家

don't buy products in bulk.

不會大量購買

They buy products on demand. A person in Alex

而是用多少買多少

doesn't buy a box of cigarettes. They buy one cigarette

Alex的居民不會買整盒香菸來抽 （約翰尼斯堡的貧民區）

each day, even though it's more expensive.

即便要花比較多的錢， 他們還是一次買一支

So we packaged DryBath in these innovative little sachets.

所以我們設計了乾洗澡隨身包

You just snap them in half, and you squeeze it out.

只要對折，就可以擠出來用

And the cool part is, one sachet substitutes one bath

更酷的是

for five rand.

一包不到20塊就可以洗一次澡

After creating that model, we also learned a lot

在建立模式的過程中

in terms of implementing the product.

我們發現

We realized that even rich kids from the suburbs

連郊區那些有錢人家的小孩

really want DryBath. (Laughter)

都很喜歡乾洗澡 （笑聲）

At least once a week.

每個禮拜至少要用一次

Anyway, we realized that we could save 80 million liters

總之，他們每少洗一次澡

of water on average each time they skipped a bath,

就可省下8000萬公升的洗澡水

and also we would save two hours a day for kids

鄉下孩子們

who are in rural areas, two hours more for school,

每天就多兩個小時上課

two hours more for homework,

多兩個小時做功課

two hours more to just be a kid.

多兩個小時享受童年

After seeing that global impact, we narrowed it down

看到這些國際影響之後

to our key value proposition,

我們歸納出產品的價值和訴求

which was cleanliness and convenience.

主打－乾淨方便

DryBath is a rich man's convenience

乾洗澡不僅可以給有錢人方便

and a poor man's lifesaver.

還能救窮人的命

Having put the product into practice, we are actually now

量產後

on the verge of selling the product

我們準備把產品賣給跨國企業

onto a multinational to take it to the retail market,

再由跨國企業銷往零售市場

and one question I have for the audience today is,

我還想問大家一個問題

on the gravel roads of Limpopo,

像我在這種環境長大

with an allowance of 50 rand a week,

每週零用錢不到200塊的年輕人

I came up with a way for the world not to bathe.

都能發明乾洗澡

What's stopping you? (Applause)

到底還有什麼理由讓你停滯不前？ （掌聲）

I'm not done yet. I'm not done yet.

我還沒講完，我還沒講完

And another key thing that I learned a lot

整個過程中

throughout this whole process,

另外一大收穫就是

last year Google named me as one of the brightest young minds in the world.

去年，我被谷歌評選為 世界上最聰明的年輕人之一

I'm also currently the best student entrepreneur

我也是目前最優秀的學生企業家

in the world, the first African to get that accolade,

第一位獲獎的非洲人

and one thing that really puzzles me is, I did all of this

令人摸不著頭緒的是

just because I didn't want to bathe. Thank you.

這一切都從不想洗澡開始 謝謝

(Applause.)