A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of being interviewed by one of my childhood heros; the Radio Caroline and BBC DJ Johnnie Walker MBE about ColaLife. As a completely independent initiative from his work with the BBC and other broadcasters, Johnnie puts together The Alternative Johnnie Walker Podcasts which, and I quote, . . [...]
ColaLife wins the top prize at the DuPont Packaging Innovation Awards
17 May 2013 by 2 Comments
Last night (16/5/13) while we slept in Zambia, there were celebrations going in Wilmington, Delaware, USA at the DuPont Packaging Innovation Awards. This morning we learnt that we’d won the top prize (Diamond) and we also won in the ‘Food Security’ category. It was great that our colleague, Rohit Ramchandani, was there and met up [...]
A virtual tour of the Kit Yamoyo retailers
13 May 2013 by Leave a Comment
It would be lovely if all our supporters could visit the Kit Yamoyo retailers in Kalomo and Katete. This is obviously not possible but here is the next best thing! Using Google Earth it is now possible to ‘fly’ over the trial areas and get a feel for the types of shops selling Kit Yamoyos [...]
Just back from Katete
10 May 2013 by Leave a Comment
I’m just back from my latest field trip to Katete. On these trips, I’m always aware that, as a 6’2″ white observer with weird hair, my mere presence has an impact on what I’m observing. This was really brought home to me on this trip when I was accompanied by three other white faces. Things got very [...]
Beyond the call of duty – Cairo to Cape Town for ColaLife
8 May 2013 by 2 Comments
Regular readers will know Ali & Lizzie, the couple who are cycling from Cairo to Cape Town for ColaLife (and two other charities close to their hearts). Well here is some sad news about a very determined woman. This is a quoted straight from their blog. The original post is here. Last Leg – Lost [...]
Phase 2 Community-based marketing gets underway
28 April 2013 by 2 Comments
Seven months ago, when we started the ColaLife trial, nobody knew what a Kit Yamoyo anti-diarrhoea kit was. So the first 6 months of the community-based marking activity has been about awareness raising and the launch of a completely new product (Kit Yamoyo) into remote rural areas of Kalomo and Katete. A key tool to [...]
ColaLife Cairo to Cape Town Cyclists pass through Zambia
25 April 2013 by Leave a Comment
Before the excitement of Product Design of the Year award took over our lives, it was lovely to play host to two amazing people – Ali and Lizzie – as they cycled through Zambia on their way from Cairo to Cape Town. Their target is to raise £10,000 for three charities which mean a lot [...]
Kit Yamoyo wins Product Design of the Year 2013
10 April 2013 by 4 Comments
I’ve just got back from the field, with so many stories to tell and pictures to show, to the news that ColaLife’s Kit Yamoyo has won the Product category of the Designs of the Year 2013. The maverick in me thinks it’s fantastic that something designed with the poor and for the poor, and with the word [...]
Riot in Katete
6 April 2013 by 6 Comments
On Wednesday night (3/4/13) night when I sat down, with mosquitos buzzing around my ears, and posted Setting up for an exciting few days in Katete, little did I know what kind of ‘excitement’ that would turn out to be. All the plans were in place to give the ColaLife Cairo to Cape Town cyclists [...]
Setting up for an exciting few days in Katete
3 April 2013 by Leave a Comment
It felt like a weekend this morning as I packed my cycling stuff, put the bike rack and bike on the back of the Land Rover and set off on a six-hour drive across Zambia. But I was in fact going to work. Three hours into the drive I got a call from a number [...]
