A Bottle and a Mission: Two Immigrants Start a Company To Combat The Water Crisis
Co-Founder of Didomi. Left, Lamah Bility. Right, Anaa Jibicho.
“We’ve seen it. We’ve been through it. And for that reason, we felt obliged to do something about it.”
Who is Didómi?
Anaa Jibicho, an immigrant from Ethiopia, and Lamah Bility, an immigrant from Liberia, had their first interaction in the townhomes of Mount Airy located in Saint Paul, MN, in 2009. Little did they know that their shared experience concerning the water crisis would lead to the creation of Didómi.
Anaa recalled memories in Ethiopia where, in the midst of political persecution, getting access to clean, safe waters was nearly impossible. One-third of Ethiopia relies on unsafe water for their daily needs. Two of Anaa’s older siblings passed away due to water-borne diseases in Ethiopia.
Lamah shared memories of growing up in Liberia, saying, “as the oldest, I would wake up every morning before sunrise and walk two miles to a lake to get water so that my two siblings and parents had clean water for the day.”
13 years ago, the world water crisis was their reality. Today, Anaa Jibicho and Lamah Bility seek to combat the world water crisis through their reusable water bottle company. Didómi is a social enterprise that uses funds generated from water bottle sales to combat the water crisis through a partnership with the nonprofit Water Is Life. Every bottle they sell provides 10 years of clean, safe water for someone in Africa.
“Didómi is a Greek word that means to give. We want to start a water crisis awareness movement, and that is why our logo is a crossed finger symbolizing the only thing that is free in this world; HOPE.”
Why Didómi?
“Nearly a billion people in the world don’t have basic access to water, and unsafe water kills more people than war.”
Water is at the root of many of the challenges facing people in developing countries. When the water insecurities are met, communities transform, equality progresses, and productivity is out of the roof.
Women and children globally spend 200 million hours a day gathering water for drinking, food preparation, and waste disposal. That time could be spent working, getting an education, or achieving their potential. Access to clean, safe water enables people to improve their health, break the cycles of poverty, and be productive members of society. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the impacts of the water crisis. Who would have thought that something we take for granted is responsible for the deaths of millions of people every year?
Didómi also aims to combat environmental issues concerning plastic water bottle pollution. “About 90% of plastic water bottles do not get recycled but usually end up in continents like Africa, contaminating the water,” says Anaa. However, Didomi’s reusable water bottles play an essential role in restoring justice for communities in Africa impacted by plastic water pollution by contributing to the reduction of plastic water bottle use.
The Didómi bottles are priced at $27.99 a bottle at Didomigives.com.
The back of every Didómi bottle has a quote that reads, “even the smallest act of caring for another person is like a drop of water, it will make ripples through the pond.” Through activist celebration instead of guilt, Didómi wants to reimagine the future of the world without the water crisis by creating a community of global change-makers. Didomi’s founders hope to invest in Africa’s youth and get them involved in combating the water crisis, “they have skin in the game,” says Anaa.
“From sales and partnerships over the summer we were able to provide 300 students in Kibera, a slum village in Kenya, with life straws through our partnership with the non-profit Water is Life. We want to continue this momentum by bringing together people like you- individuals and organizations to become world-changers.”