This week has been a high-energy week. It has really felt like ColaLife has taken off here in Zambia while others beaver away in other countries. Let me deal with the trial first. On Tuesday, supported by our trial advisor Rohit, in Canada, UNICEF Zambia issued a call for Expressions of Interest in the monitoring and evaluation element of the ColaLife Trial. This is a significant milestone – if this is your area and you want work with us, let us know by the end of January.
Another highlight of the week was the Skype meeting on Thursday with PI Global who are our packaging partner. Working out of London, they have come up with a prototype AidPod that quite literally brought tears to my eyes. I’m going to be a quivering wreak by the time they get into crates in Zambia. I can’t reveal anything else at the moment but when I can, it will be here. There is still quite a lot of development and testing to do but we should receive prototype packages here next week. A session with all the possible crate and bottle combinations has already been booked for the week after next with SABMiller to test the fit of the prototype AidPods.
At the same time, elsewhere – in the USA and the UK – people promote, review and buy the Art and Poetry mix that is ‘Inspiration Speaks‘. Sales of this lovely book benefit ColaLife. Inspiration Speaks was reviewed recently by Zouch Magazine. The review concluded:
“Inspiration Speaks” is a worthwhile publication to spend some time with – each time I’ve sat down with it I find something new to read, look at or think about. And it’s for a worthy cause so you are hopefully giving as you take enjoyment from it. In times like these, that seems like quite a good bet to me.
The book is available in paperback and eBook formats as follows:
Amazon (UK) | Paperback: £12.92 | Kindle: £5.15
Amazon (US) | Paperback: $20.99 | Kindle: $8.99
Barnes & Noble (US) | Paperback: $20.99 | NOOK Book: $6.99
Thanks to Nichole Herbert of ArtPlatform and the contributing artists for choosing ColaLife as the benefiting charity for this project.
Meanwhile . . . on Tuesday evening MBA students at Hult Business School gathered in London to receive a challenge from ColaLife supporter Damian Radcliffe . . . ‘Is there any way that the ColaLife idea and values can be harnessed to make money in developed markets to subsidise the cost of simple, life-saving medicines for people living on a dollar or so a day in less developed countries?’. Thanks go to Damian and long-term supporter Lisa ter Haar for organising this. It will be interesting to see what the young brains at Hult come up with.