When it comes to the company that we are using, Life Straw, they are known for creating products that help filter bacteria and parasites out of water in order to make it safer to drink. It has been known to create products not only for adventurers and outdoorsmen in the retail space, but also for humanitarian efforts in order to help less fortunate regions of the world in order to provide safe drinking water. Life Straw’s parent company Vestergaard is no stranger to the humanitarian space as the company is an innovative leader in the global war against diseases.
Their work helps create solutions that lead to a healthier and more sustainable planet. On a larger scale, their main effort is to product groundbreaking products that provide solutions and products for disadvantaged people. Retails customers of Life Straw are well aware of the company’s humanitarian efforts as the company regularly informs purchasers that part of the money spent will go towards bringing safe water to the rest of the world. The Life Straw website lists that so far they have provided clean water to 1,015,652 students, have reached 1,652 schools and have delivered 15,652 filters.
The product to be exported in this instance is a Life Straw collapsible water bottle that will feature the company’s patented straw that provides the ability to filter out contaminants such as bacteria, pesticides, parasites, microplastics and heavy metals. The most beneficial part of the product is the straw that will make water healthy enough to drink, but the bottle itself will also be very useful as it will provide a compact way for people to carry and store their filtered water.
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The company we are trading with on this project will be Uganda as it will provide an opportunity for the native people to have clean and safe drinking water. It is easy for many people throughout the world to take something such as clean water for granted, but millions of people do not have that and it doesn’t take much for people to make a positive impact for providing safe and clean drinking water.
There is a well-documented history on the topic of making sanitized water accessible in Uganda as a number of major organizations and groups with a worldwide reach have helped over the years to make it possible.
In 2015, the World Health Organization published an analysis and assessment of sanitation and drinking water within Uganda, which stated that legislation to improve the overall fundamental rights of Ugandans would benefit a number of areas, including the ability to increase equity in access to drinking water. The article also provided sanitation and drinking-water estimates from 2012, which showed 34% used improved sanitation facilities and 75% used drinking-water from improved sources.
More recently, new drinking water technology from Life Straw was set in place in Uganda in September 2017. At the time, research showed that while national safe water coverage in rural areas was 70%, there was still concern with water in shallow wells, protected springs and deep boreholes that are easily subjected to contamination. The technology was used in households, schools, clinics and community centers. The implementation of the technology at the time was anticipated to save the government nearly $700,000 USD on treating preventable diseases that can result from consumption of contaminated water. This deal that was made over one year ago provided residents with straws from Life Water and the current plan will just build upon that history as people can also have a way to store and transport the water to make the process even easier for them.
The most recent news on the Uganda water situation came nearly six months ago in May 2018, in an article that outlined a status update on the serious, but solvable situation. The piece stated that nearly 24 million people are still living without access to clean water in the country and mentioned how people can make a difference by supporting the previously-established relationship with Life Water through sponsoring a village by donating money to the cause.
While this issue has been an uphill battle for many people in Uganda in recent years, fortunately there have been large strides made in recent years which has us in a good position to go from as we move forward with the introduction of the Life Straw collapsible water bottles and straws.
As a nation, Uganda is located on the edge of the equator and landlocked between the eastern and western sections of Africa’s Great Rift Valley, along with being bordered by Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and the Congo. The topography of plateau, paired with rolling hills and low mountains, along with its’ warm tropical climate don’t have much of an influence on the water situation. Overall, Uganda is replete with water and contains many large lakes, which could be deceiving as a result of the lack of drinkable water. While the nearly one-fifth of the country’s area consists of open water or swampland, there are no available means by which to sanitize that water due to a lack of facilities.
When it comes to the lives of Ugandan families, extended clans play a role within many ethnic groups. In recent years, it has been found that a third of the children in certain regions are born to single mothers. There are a lot of differences when compared to the typical American family dynamic and construct, including issues such as HIV leaving some children without one or both parents and some of the youth ending up living with grandparents, other relatives or even alone on the street. While marriage is an important social event that provides men and women to choose their partner, it is traditional for the marriage to be negotiated with the bride’s family. Approval by both families must be provided, while both families will also look into the background of others prior to giving approval.
Public physical displays of affection are discouraged, while the size of families depends on the location as rural families are traditionally larger. When it comes to gender roles, there are no strict limitations are many notable positions have been held by women, including in political roles. Thanks to a 1997 rule change, universal primary education was made free for all by the government and in 2007 the same occurred for secondary education. The education is structured through seven years of primary educations, six years of secondary education and between three and five years of post-secondary education. According to data collected by UNESCO, Uganda’s literacy rate for adults is 70.2%, while it is 79.12% for men and 61.97% which displays an alarmingly large gap between genders.
In regards to Uganda’s political system, it is a presidential republic that provides the president with the titles as head of state and head of government. Executive power is also exercised by the government as there is a multi-party system that makes up the political structure that was brought back into play in 2005. Operating as an independent branch of government, the Ugandan judiciary consists of several courts, where the judges are selected by the president. There has been a very complex past when it comes to the political system for the country, which has become the centerpiece for many issues and has often times been the source of major issues for the people of the country.
With the attention of high-ranking officials having been on obtaining and holding power and leading, there has not been much focus on the everyday natives in urban and rural areas. One of the major issues that were ignored was that people don’t have access to safe drinking water because the water isn’t equally distributed throughout the country. The water crisis has led to more issues as a result of a domino effect. Without clean water, many have become malnourished as a result of poor diets, which have then led to health issues that cannot be solved by the medical system especially for those that live in areas where medical services cannot be provided. The agriculture of Uganda has also suffered as crops don’t grow with unclean water and many residents are left hungry.
While the two major religions of the nation’s 35.6 million people are Christianity and Islam, there is a wide range of ethnic groups and several languages as well that make up the native people. Unfortunately for those people, there is a high level of social inequality as wealth distribution is controlled by class position.
For the people of Uganda, it is important to regularly build relationships in everyday life and especially in the world of business. Another important business practice is following protocol on a regular basis, an example of this is holding introductions for all meeting attendees to ensure there is an early-established level of familiarity and comfort. There is a higher likelihood for people to work together and be more successful if relationships are developed and a bond is formed between the parties involved. While some structure is preferred, it isn’t commonplace in every aspect as there is not much emphasis put on timeliness.
When looking at Uganda overall and digging into so many different aspects of traditions, culture and people, all of the numerous traits have made the nation into what it is today and where it stands on a worldwide basis, both good and bad. Fortunately for all people, normal natives and high-ranking officials, there have been major efforts from outside companies and countries to assist with issues they are facing just as is the case for helping provide as much clean drinking water as possible and lowering the number of people that are unable to obtain clean water. With help from a company such as Life Straw, an issue that had existed for several years was able to be attacked head on, which in turn will assist Uganda, Africa and the world as a whole by enhancing quality of life for millions and allowing the country to flourish.
References
- Life Straw Official Website
- Vestergaard Official Website
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- UNICEF
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) statistics
- National Center for Biotechnology Information – Challenges and potential solutions for safe drinking water in developing countries
