While most Vanderbilt students enjoyed a relaxing fall break among friends and family this past October, senior Tommy Obenchain travelled to the country of Bangladesh to oversee the installation of a pilot water filtration system in a country where 77 million people drink contaminated water daily.
Obenchain is the founder of Pearls for Life, a pending 501C3 non-profit organization aimed at bringing clean water to the people of Bangladesh. Pearls for Life is an initiative of Taylor Pearl, Obenchain’s for-profit company that buys pearls in Bangladesh and sells them in America. The organization works in collaboration with a non-governmental association, Humanitarian Aid for Rural Development (HARD).
The inception of Taylor Pearl and Pearls for Life began when Obenchain traveled to Beijing, China in July 2005.
“I saw the opportunity to buy pearls here and sell them in America,” said Obenchain, describing his walk through a local pearl market.
According to Obenchain, he visited an orphanage later that day. Though impressed by the organization’s efforts to provide abandoned children with a safe environment and the opportunity for education, Obenchain said he was struck by group’s financial struggle.
“A dollar a day fed one of those kids, and they weren’t always able to make ends meet,” Obenchain said. “That number hit me, and that point of inspiration fused with my experience earlier at the pearl market to create the company.”
Obenchain traveled to Bangladesh for the first time in May 2009, and the concept of utilizing freshwater pearls to bring fresh water to the region was born in February 2010. By May of that year, Obenchain and his team had amassed the necessary funds to go on their first research and development trip.
In order for Pearls for Life to gain a concrete understanding of the region’s complex problems, Obenchain said the group saw the need for all research to be conducted in Bangladesh. Obenchain outlined three questions he and his team sought to answer in evaluating the most effective course of action: “What is the problem? What can we do to have the biggest impact? And how can we make sure the impact is sustainable?”
Returning home, Obenchain sought the assistance of Vanderbilt faculty members, Brooke Ackerly, professor of political science, George Hornberger, professor of engineering, and Steven Goodbred, professor of oceanography. They provided Obenchain with guidance and put him in contact with the developer of the Sono filter, a device with the ability to filter out 100 percent of arsenic in a water supply.
Built upon the principles of social responsibility, Taylor Pearl rebranded in June 2010 and selected a name that “was classy, short and could be embraced by our clientele,” said Obenchain. The name is also emblematic of the company’s heritage. In 2006 Obenchain met Taylor, a 6-year-old orphan whose smile Obenchain says he will never forget.
For every order that Taylor Pearl receives, three people are given access to clean water. Obenchain said the number of Bangladeshi citizens benefitting from the water filters is actually higher.
The campaign uses microfinance extension, a type of banking service that is provided to unemployed or low-income individuals or groups who would otherwise have no other means of gaining financial services. Recipient families pay off the cost of the water filters over the course of 14 months, and funds are recycled back into the community to perpetuate the installation of Sono filters and thus expand access to safe drinking water.
“Every dollar that goes towards this multiplies forward, and we have set up a mechanism to make sure that is occurring,” Obenchain said.
After graduating, Obenchain was offered a job with Huron Consulting, and in December of 2010, he accepted. Fortunately for Pearls for Life, Huron is allowing Obenchain to defer his start date to January 2012.
“I will have time to fully invest in Taylor Pearl and find someone to succeed me,” he said
Currently, the operation has brought clean water to 300 in Bangladesh, and Obenchain said the goal is to bring that number to the thousands in the coming months.
“What makes me smile is being in Bangladesh, drinking water from one of our filters and then waking up the next morning healthy — and staying healthy through the trip,” Obenchain said. “Contaminated water can get one sick pretty quickly. It’s one of the ways I know we’re making an impact.”
Tommy Obenchain is the President and Founder of the Taylor Pearl Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Oben International Corporation. He is also a member of the Oben International Corp’s board of directors.
He attended Highland Park High School in Dallas, Texas, where he served as the president of the student body in his senior year and was the recipient of the National Honor Society’s Blanket Award. Obenchain founded Taylor Pearl in July of 2005, and he has led the company through its six-year history.
Obenchain is majoring in both International Business Communication and Political Science and will graduate in May of this year. Following graduation, Obenchain will continue to serve as the president of the Taylor Pearl Company and chairman of the Pearls for Life campaign.
How does the filter work?
The filter works by pouring raw, contaminated water into the entrance on top of the filter. Water then travels through the first layer of filtration that is a combination of rocks and sand. This organic material filters out bacteria and iron. Water flows to the lower segment of the device, where it passes through an arsenic probe. A final layer of sand completes the purification process and water exits free of bacteria, metals and most importantly, Obenchain said, arsenic.