Bad situations are often the foundation for good ideas. In 2008, Zach, the founder of CANA Provisions, was working alongside Engineers Without Borders in Cameroon. This African country was torn apart by decades of economic crisis, war, and disease. Clean water — a resource most of us take for granted every day — was difficult to obtain in rural areas, and this led to outbreaks of preventable illnesses such as typhoid. Zach’s team worked to build and install water collection and treatment systems in the village of Nkuv, but he eventually returned home to America, where such systems didn’t seem essential. But 12 years later, while participating in a Tactical Urban Sustainment Course (TUSC) at the revered training center known as the Direct Action Resource Center (DARC), Zach realized that some of his prior experience was still relevant for emergency preparedness. This led him to develop the CANA Provisions AR-1, a portable water pump that’s designed to help families and small groups obtain clean water more efficiently.
Development of the CANA Provisions AR-1
To understand the AR-1, it’s important to understand the event that sparked its creation. DARC TUSC is a week-long course that “addresses some of the tactics…
