3.7 Miles of Daily Water Journey
You must have heard that in some countries, accessibility to clean water is extremely low. Uganda is one of those countries. According to the UNICEF report, only 17% of Ugandan people can drink water from safely managed sources. The rest of the population must travel a long way only to get the water from the well and that includes kids. What they use to transport the water along the way is the jerrycan, which was originally meant to store military fuel during the second world war.
The problem is, the jerrycan which kids must bring is 10kg and with water, the weight of it goes up to 19.5kg. The fact that they carry it with their heads or hands without any equipment for 1.8 hours on average because they can’t afford a bag is heartbreaking not to mention how dangerous the unpaved roads with running cars can be. We can only imagine the heavy jerrycans’ effect on their back and spine at such a young age. Moreover, the longer time it takes to go get the water, the more times kids tend to miss school.
Jerrybag Can Help Them
For those of you who want to participate in something meaningful, I recommend this project that aims to provide a better way to transport water. On Kickstarter launches a charitable campaign called ‘Jerrycan Water Bottle: Water for A Change.’ This project contributes to the world by making the economy for women in Uganda and safer journey for the water for Ugandan kids.
In this project you can donate one bag for the jerrycan, the Jerrybag, buying one jerrycan-inspired eco water bottle aka Jerrycan Water Bottle. Jerrybag is a headlight reflecting bag that is made exclusively to ease the pain of brutal water transportation journey for kids. It lights up to keep the kids safe from the running cars of the road and is made waterproof.
The smartest yet best part of this campaign is that does Jerrybags are made by the local Ugandan women within a design studio in Uganda’s capital city Kampala in 2014. They get paid for that. Surprisingly, this studio is established by the Jerrybag campaign team. They have produced more than 13,000 Jerrybags for children younger than 10 with 16 Ugandan female employers through NGOs like World Vision, Childfund, etc.
Jerrycan Water Bottle for Jerrybag
The reward of this project, the Jerrycan Water Bottle is not only a sign of your contribution to the world but also a greatly useful water bottle. It is designed to let you mount your phone while working out or taking selfies so that it can provide a satisfactory consumer experience. This is a great feature for gym lovers or yoga lovers. The jerrycan-inspired design is unique and trendy too. The size of the jerrycan bottle is very compact. The smallest 400ml jerrycan can fit in your pocket.
Still, the best part of it is you will be reminded of the child you helped whenever you see this bottle.
Spread Your Love on Kickstarter
This is a crowdfunding project that needs to gather helping hands little by little. I bet your Christmas will be more meaningful when you become a part of sharing love to the third world, reminding the spirit of Christmas. Find this project on Kickstarter by searching for the ‘Jerrycan Water Bottle.’