In Kampala, Uganda, there are more than 300.000 boda bodas – local motorcycle taxis. Every day they move around in traffic. At the same time, Kampala is one of Africa’s most polluted cities. KampalAIR wants to address the air pollution and combat health issues – with affordable and reusable air pollution masks.
90 minutes biking in Kampala? Than the advantages of exercising itself do not anymore outweigh the disadventages caused by the air pollution. This is how dirty the air is in the capital of the ‘Pearl of Africa’ (Uganda).
Health
Last June I came to Uganda, my first visit to the continent of Africa. Within the first week of living here I took my first boda ride. It was such a great feeling riding on the back of a motorcycle, free in the busy streets of Kampala, but I couldn’t help but notice the immense amount of air pollution. I started talking to boda drivers and asked them if this bothered them and if they would like something to protect their health? Soon after, I had a meeting with the chair of boda drivers in Bukoto Kisaasi who called about 25 of their members together. They all expressed concern over the air pollution, which was clearly affecting their health, and when I mentioned the idea of a protective mask, they all took interest.
In the months following I did as much research as I could on the topic. Many boda drivers indicated they were scared of developing lung cancer in the future, mentioning uncontrollable coughing caused by the fumes of cars and dust and that they did not know what to do to protect themselves. When looking into the availability of ‘masks’ on the local market, besides a cotton cloth and a low-grade dust mask, there is no locally available mask with the pm 2.5 filter needed to protect from the small pollution particles caused by traffic emissions.
Wishes
The drivers have specific wishes for the mask: it needs to be reusable, in the colour brown so that the dust won’t be too visible, and practical to wear.
All these conversations and feedback led to the idea for KampalAIR: reusable air pollution masks.
KampalAIR
The plan is to run a pilot by the end of the year and to sell the first masks. The mask will be designed in collaboration with the drivers and made by local tailors. In case the sales work out, people locally can hopefully pursuit this idea into a social enterprise and collaborate with partners, such as for instance the local government.
“KampalAIR hopes to raise more awareness about air pollution in East Africa and hopefully spark a change that aims to reduce co2 emissions in the long run.”
Future
The air pollution in traffic is mostly caused by old cars and vans and also the boda bodas contribute to the air pollution. The mask is a solution in the short run. I hope this initiative will spark a more sustainable change in the long run and hence a collaboration with local governments to improve several regulations. And ultimately perhaps an infrastructure for electric bodas?
Currently, KampalAIR is running a crowdfunding in order to localy make the first masks. The crowdfunding is live until 24 October and you can read more about this here.
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