ColaLife FAQs Live!
June 30, 2010 by Simon Berry · 3 Comments
Back in February 2010, ColaLife supporter, Lisa ter Haar of onlyconnectcommunication contacted me. She’d mentioned ColaLife in a lecture to her students at the Hult International Business School and they’d had lots and lots of questions. So Lisa invited me in for a question and answer session the following week (1/3/10). When I got the invitation I was delighted and started to think how we might make the session more interesting and capture the content so that others could benefit.
I immediately called my friend, David Wilcox (socialreporter.com) to ask if he would help film the occasion. But we went further than that and gave Flip video cameras to the students too. This produced hours of footage from four cameras and it was at this point that Alex Brenig-Jones of studiomagicsolutions.com stepped in and offered to edit the footage free of charge. So this is a truly collaborative effort and thanks go to all those involved (especially Alex - the editing was a significant amount of work!).
Above is a video playlist of all the questions and below is a grid to allow direct access to each one. As you will be able to see, this was a totally unrehearsed session and I had no previous knowledge of the questions.
Key to all of the questions:
| FAQ1: How will the ColaLife AidPods get into the Coca-Cola distribution system? | FAQ2: How did ColaLife get Coca-Cola’s attention? | FAQ3: Will the AidPods be disposable? |
| FAQ4: Who needs to be involved locally? | FAQ5: Where do Coca-Cola’s responsibilities begin and end? | FAQ6: Which other organisations are a part of ColaLife? |
| FAQ7: What is ColaLife’s role in training and capacity building of public health workers? | FAQ8: How will ColaLife be funded? | FAQ9: How will ColaLife work with others? |
I will be using this material to liven up the ColaLife FAQ page.
ColaLife principle: be the glue
June 29, 2010 by Simon Berry · Leave a Comment
etc etc etc
We believe that there are already enough organisations, both locally and internationally to implement a trial of the Colalife concept. We also believe that if a trial were successful that their are enough organisations to implement ColaLife on an on-going, sustainable basis. ColaLife has no aspiration to become another player in the frontline of the delivery of public health services. We just want to be the glue that brings unlikely alliances together to trial something quite extraordinary.
Introducing the Mark IV AidPod
June 28, 2010 by Simon Berry · 4 Comments
A comparison of the cross-section of the Mark III (right) and Mark IV (left) AidPods. Hand-written numbers are volume calculations.
I was ruthless in the way I took advantage of a visit from my daughter over the weekend. Sorry (and thanks) Emma! You see, she can use Adobe Illustrator and I can’t (note to self: must make time to learn how to use Adobe Illustrator). Anyway, with me on scissors, glue, pencil, profile gauge and ruler and Emma on the computer we have come up with Mark IV of the AidPod.
Over the last few weeks as video and pictures have come back to me of the Mark III AidPod in crates in Africa, it had become apparent that some modification of the cross-section were required for it to fit properly between the necks of the bottles in crates. Thanks to Wes Browning of SemaFilms for the video clips and to all the people who have sent me photos and commentaries.
I only have one African Coca-Cola bottle and it is incredibly difficult to get an accurate cross-section of it but I think we have managed. Here are the Adobe Illustrator files Emma created in .AI and .PDF formats for those who are interested:
The image with this post compares the cross-section of the Mark III with that of the new Mark IV. The key problem with the Mark III was that it was too deep and hit the crate divider before it was fully inserted. I have compensated for having to shorten the AidPod and the thin end by making it slightly taller (and the fat end). There is a reduction in volume but the Mark IV still has a capacity of just over half a litre. Looking at these cross-sections again as I type this, I realise that the top section of the new Mark IV could probably be a bit wider - we’ll see.
Can you balance an AidPod on your nose?
June 24, 2010 by Simon Berry · Leave a Comment
Ever tried*? Well, Carlo Montesanti of the Global Bee Project can. And here’s the proof:
Carlo was one of the inspirational UnLtd Level 2 Award winners who gathered today at The Hoxton Apprentice restaurant and bar to celebrate and network with each other and members of the UnLtd Connect network. Jane and I attended and picked up some really useful tips and contacts to follow up on . . . . which we now have time to do properly! Thanks again to UnLtd.
* You can download an AidPod pattern here and make your own.
Still chance to book to hear the latest on ColaLife
June 22, 2010 by Simon Berry · Leave a Comment
I will be one of two speakers at an event organised by Canvas8 and hosted at the swanky premises of Wieden + Kennedy, the famous advertising agency in London, UK. You can see more details and book here. The event’s on 23 June (Weds) and starts at 6:30pm. See you there?
Now we are three . . .
June 18, 2010 by Simon Berry · Leave a Comment
In order of age: Andy, Nigel and Simon
There’s been a flurry of activity since we started our recruitment drive for cyclists to join us on the ColaLife Participation Ride 2010. There are three confirmed riders/fund-raisers so far with three or four ‘maybes’ and two ‘I’m totally gutteds’ (I can’t do those dates). This looks like fun already! It would be good to have a few women though to balance the gender mix.
ColaLife is recruiting . . . cyclists
June 15, 2010 by Simon Berry · 2 Comments
Indicative route only at this stage. Image courtesy of Google Maps
The ColaLife Participation Ride 2010
My old friend, Nigel Bolding, and I are looking for three others to join us on a ride across France to raise money towards the costs of the fieldwork that we need to carry out to plan the independently evaluated trial of ColaLife*. We aim to raise £10,000 between us and we are looking for a philanthropist to match this amount. Are you that philanthropist?
If you’d like to be one of the riders please comment on this blog post or contact me directly at simon[at]colalife.org or on +44 (0)7932 107109.
Basic facts about the ride:
Dates: 4/9/10 to 12/9/10
From: Boulogne
To: Biarritz
Approximate distance: 1035km (650 miles)
Cycling days: 8
* For more details of how this fits in with our current workstreams please see this post: Kicking of Phase 2 of ColaLife.
Ellie through the Looking Glass – a report from Madagascar
June 13, 2010 by jane · 1 Comment
Madagascan child with AidPod. Image credit: Ellie Stoneley
It’s amazing the lengths ColaLife supporters will go to, to help out. One such is the intrepid Ellie Stoneley who has just braved leeches, gun-toting rebels and giant spiders on a trip to the Looking Glass island of Madagascar for Kitchen Table Charities Trust. On route between a conference in Prague and a trip to France, Simon and I caught up with Ellie in the relative calm of the British Library Tea Room, to retrieve the ColaLife Flip video, the ColaLife T-shirt she’d borrowed and a rather battered Aidpod, now complete with a signature set of muddy finger prints supplied by the young lady above - or one of her friends.
You can hear more about Ellie’s adventures here, in an apparent paradise where Chanel clad ladies lunch in Tana, the capital, yet around two thirds of the population live below the UNESCO poverty line, there are only 3 doctors per 10,000 people and over 10% of children die before they are five - that’s 60,000 children each year, mainly from water borne diseases. It is slightly larger than France, but with only one proper main road, distribution of medicines presents all the usual challenges. Ellie had made time around her other work to talk to people about ColaLife and find out a little more how the fizzy drink supply chains work. As in many places, Coca-Cola and Fanta are seen as luxury products here - even among the wealthy elite - and the ‘pull’ of the brand means that small entrepreneurs will walk two or three hours from their village to the main road to pick up crates for their ‘local’ shop. Via interpretation supplied by Ellie’s driver, Mamy, she tested out the responses of one such shop keeper. She ran the only one shop in a 15 mile radius - so hardly ‘local’ but a great deal more accessible than the nearest health centre, more than 3 hours away. Health visitors do come, she said, but in between times there is no access to medicines; when children become ill, they have to be carried into the town, a slow journey they may or may not survive.
Yes, as usual, despite the remoteness, there was the Coke - delivered twice a month to this particular little shop. Both the shop-keeper and Mamy were bemused, says Ellie, to hear that an Englishman and his 12,000 virtual supporters might care about the health of the children in their village. Ellie reports that behind their typical Madagascan politeness and reserve, they were fascinated by the ColaLife concept. The shop-keeper was honoured to think that her shop might receive AidPods and wanted to stress that she would take good care of the supplies. What kind of medicines would the AidPods bring? How much would they cost? How would the AidPods be made to protect them from the torrential rains, that often wash away the mud brick houses? Their main reservation was whether there would be space to bring enough medicines for all their needs.
Mamy was astounded that Ellie made him a parting gift of the ColaLife T shirt - that’s one we won’t be getting back, but it’s gone to a very good cause. Previously Mayor of his village, Mamy is now finding out all he can about ColaLife from his internet-literate daughter, has appointed himself ColaLife representative in Madagascar and has promised to seek a driving job with one of the Coca-Cola bottling plant bosses just as soon as he can, making sure he wears his new shirt (‘the ONLY ColaLife T-Shirt on the island’). Now, that will be one taxi-driver rant worth a listen, I hope! And, for Mamy’s daughter, if you’re reading this - please tell us what happens next…..
Is ColaLife the only option?
June 10, 2010 by Simon Berry · 1 Comment
Image credit: Tim Dench, TOAD
ColaLife is trying to make simple medicines, and other social products, reach the same places that Coca-Cola reaches, that is, most places. This has proved to be a very popular idea. But can it be made to work? We intend to find out.
It is worth all the effort, because from where I am standing it looks like the only idea in town. As Village Reach points out, the establishment of a dedicated distribution system to get simple medicines to remote places would be ‘too expensive to procure’.
The world over, saving lives comes down to money. In the UK we have NICE (the National Institute for Clinical Excellence) who decide how we should spend the limited health resources and it all comes down to the level of bang you get for your buck. The same is true in developing countries except worse. There, demand for health services seriously outstrips supply and so it is even more important that you invest limited resources where they reap the largest benefit. It’s always going to be cheaper to save urban lives than remote, rural lives. From any standpoint, except the one of a parent with a dying child in a rural area, it makes no sense to set up and maintain a supply chain for simple medicines, and the knowledge of how to use them, to remote rural areas.
So what are we to do? The only practical option is to piggyback on distribution systems that are already there and one of these (but not the only one) is the Coca-Cola distribution system. Well, that’s the why I see it anyway. Comments?
[Posted from Gare D'Austerlitz while waiting to meet Jacques Macaire a ColaLife supporter in Paris :-)]
Event invitation - hear the latest on ColaLife
June 8, 2010 by Simon Berry · Leave a Comment
Here’s a chance to hear the latest on ColaLife for those based in London. I will be one of two speakers at an event organised by Canvas8 and hosted but Wieden + Kennedy, the famous advertising agency. You can see more details and book here. The event’s on 23 June and starts at 6:30pm. See you there?
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