Coca Cola!

It never seizes to amaze me how well Coca Cola promotes itself! Where NGO`s sometime are challenged to find the neediest of villages, Coke for some reason always finds its way. The reason for reflecting on this is Opuwo`s local newspaper, Good News, that we just received. Good news talks about water tanks in Otuzemba (the slum area), and that during the Cholera outbreak we had here in Opuwo in January, the Prime minister gave money to purchase 10 water tanks to be put there. The watertanks were installed shortly thereafter, HOWEVER, due to inefficiancy,the tanks are still empty, and people keep on putting themselves at risk by potentially drinking cholera infected water, because they have no other choice.

Oh yeah, I was actually talking about Coca Cola....! In the same newspaper that discuss important issues such as lack of water, hiv/aids on the increase, refuse removal programs etc, they also have a section called Good uses for Coca Cola. The following bulletpoints are listed:

-Do you have ugly oil spills in your driveway or garage? Pour some Coke on the oil spot, wait and clean easily

-Burnt food on saucepans, or burnt your pots? Soak in Coke for a few hours, and problem is solved

-For a sparkling toilet bowl, pour a can of Coke around the rim, leave for an hour, then brush and flush!

-Flat Coke re-hydrates you when you have diarrhea

So, there you go - Coke is all you need!

The picture of the two Coke bottles, and the himba lady, where ironically taken when I volunteered for the Emergency Cholera Campaign in January. I was fortunate to support Red Cross and the hospital when they flew out with helicopters to the most remote areas in Namibia. I saw the two Coke bottles at the womens hut, who has to walk for 2 days to reach the nearest village. She had carried the bottles back home with her. As you can see, the bottles are being used as sourmilk containers, and they absolutely serve a purpose! Go Coke Go!