ColaLife (updated)

By Sahar Ghaheri

Simon Berry, Founder of ColaLife, one of the thirty semi-finalist of the BFI seeks to solve some of the world's seemingly intractable problems. Studying the Coca-Cola crates, a well distributed item worldwide, he sees opportunity in the unused space between the necks of the crated bottles. As Berry explains, “1 in 5 developing world children (2 million annually in Africa alone) die before age 5, often from treatable causes such as diarrhea, malaria, poor nutrition and sanitation. Poor awareness and scant local availability of simple, cheap medical and health supplies are a key contributor; a function of poorly developed rural transport and distribution systems.” Why not use an already existing, successful distribution system to tackle the problems faced in the developing world? Why reinvent the wheel when we have the ability to leverage off of already existing systems?

We are lucky to have Simon Berry, as a guest blogger to tell us a bit about his experiences, his project, and the thought process behind starting ColaLife.

Simon explains:

In 1988 I was working on the British Aid Programme in NE Zambia. We were living in a place called Mpika and I worked mostly in the District of Chinsali. This was a very remote and sparsely populated part of Africa with only 2 people per square kilometre and where 'slash and burn', or citemene, was the traditional form of cultivation.

[Slash and burn agriculture, NE Zambia, 1988. Credit: Simon Berry]

Despite the remoteness and the sparsity of the population you could get a Coca-Cola in most settlements. Against this background one in five children didn't make it to their fifth birthday. They died of simple causes like dehydration from diarrhea. It was at this point that I put two and two together and came up with the idea behind ColaLife: if you can get Coca-Cola everywhere, even in the most remote parts of developing countries, why can't you get simple medicines, and the knowledge to use them, there too? That was 22 years ago and word of mouth was the only way of spreading the idea - there was no telephone, no postal service and no Internet, obviously.

Fast-forward 20 years and a lot has changed. But sadly, the death rate of children in Africa has not. One in five children still die before their fifth birthday - that's 4,000 a day. But now it is easy to share ideas, get support for them, improve them and get the attention of the biggest brands on the planet. And that's what I've achieved for the ColaLife idea since I put it on Facebook in May 2008.

[Model AidPod in Coca-Cola. Credit: Tim Dench]

We have designed an 'AidPod' which is a wedge-shaped container that clips between the necks of bottles in a Coca-Cola crate. The AidPods make use of unused space in a crate and would carry 'social products' such as such as oral rehydration salts, high-dose vitamin A, water purification tablets, or whatever else is required in a particular locality to save lives, particularly children's lives. The content of the AidPods would be determined by the local institutions with the long term responsibility for public health in any particular locality. These same institutions would also determine what happens when the AidPods arrive at their destination. For example, the social products might be placed on a retailer's shelves and sold or they may be collected by a community health worker.

[ Children of Mikindani, Tanzania with a model AidPod in Coca-Cola. Credit: Tim Dench]

As I write (April 2010), we are waiting to see if the ColaLife gets into the finals of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge. ColaLife already has over 12,000 global supporters, including international health professionals, frontline NGOs and Coca-Cola's current and future customers. Awards like the Buckminster Fuller Challenge bring us new audiences and add credibility to the ColaLife idea - crucial to raising the support we need to move us to the implementation phase of ColaLife.

So what are our chances? Well, our hopes hang on Buckminster Fuller's desire to support ideas with what he called 'the trimtab' factor. Buckminster Fuller often talked about this phenomenon: imagine a large ocean-going ship. In order to turn this vessel in a new direction one must first adjust the trim tab, which is a very small rudder that sits above the larger rudder. This smaller rudder, is turned first and the larger rudder then follows. Apparently it is not possible to turn the larger rudder against the momentum of such a massive vessel without it breaking off. Only by first applying pressure to the smaller rudder will the larger one even begin to move, thereby changing the direction of the ship.
We think that ColaLife is just such a trimtab. A small idea that would have a massive impact and contribute to saving thousands of children's lives . . . everyday, day in day out.

Onwards and upwards.
Simon Berry
Founder and leader of ColaLife

ColaLife is an inspiring example of truly innovative thinking. It blazes a new trail that promotes collaboration between existing systems and grassroots efforts to make a difference for all of humanity.