Ideas do rule the world.
Like everyone with the ability to think-up brilliant ideas, aid worker, Simon Berry had an idea - One he did not just think but produce.
The
ColaLife solution became the product of a brilliant idea borne from a desire to
solve a life-threatening problem in a remote area of North-east Zambia over 20
years ago. This was the Diarrheal disease, killing a million children younger
than 5 every year resulting from the absence of good health remedies.
“Why
can we buy a bottle of Coca-Cola in almost any remote area in the world but not
find essential medicines to save a child from sicknesses like Diarrhea?”
“Can we leverage on Coca-Cola’s large distribution network to provide medicines for sick children?”
“What available resources could we use to properly produce this idea?”
Berry may have asked these questions as He and his wife, Jane engaged their thought process to develop valuable answers to them. Together, they set up a Non-Governmental Organisation called ColaLife in Zambia and with the help of the Social Media, the ColaLife idea gained fast-growing support as the ColaLife Facebook Group developed 5,000 members in about three months. Following a telephone conference with Coca Cola’s head of Stakeholder Relations, by October 2008, Coke invited Simon for a meeting in the Tanzanian Capital, Dar El Salaam, offering him a chance to research their local distribution network.
With
the help of local partners the ‘Kit Yamoyo’
or ‘Kit of Life’ was created containing several packets of O.R.S ( a simple
mixture of sugar and salts), Zinc pills (which limit the duration of Diarrhea),
a bar of soap (to reduce the risk of Diarrhea) and an illustrated information
packet. Simon and Jane’s idea was to fit the Kit Yamoyo prototype in a Coca-Cola crate in the empty spaces between
the rows of bottles.
 |
The Kit Yamoyo – anti-diarrhoea kit |
After
various field trials and experiments by the ColaLife team to evaluate the
distribution of Kit Yamoyo to remote areas , it was discovered that the real
solution for distribution was not dependent on the Coca cola supply chain, but
the local value chain. Hence, the field trial had taught them that if everyone
in the line, from the producer to the rural shop retailer had a chance to make some
profit, and if the Kits remained affordable and desirable for the customer at
the end, the product will get to the most remote parts of Zambia even without needing
a vehicle. With this, Simon and Jane discovered the secret ingredient in distribution
- the investment they put in the people.
Today, ColaLife operates independent of Coca Cola, as it soon became realized that transporting Kits in crates was more limiting than it appeared. Demand for Kit Yamoyo has become so enormous in rural Zambia that local shopkeepers buy boxes full of the Kits rather than having it slipped into their crates of Coke.
Indeed, Simon’s initial idea birthed questions, utilized available resources and opportunities and produced answers. ColaLife succeeded in bridging the gap between the Diarrheal medicine and the child under 5 in rural Zambia who needed it.
Do
you have an idea? Would it solve a problem? Have you tried producing it?
Niceeee,Go amba
ReplyDeleteThumbs up Amba.
ReplyDeleteGood one
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