Water is Life.

 

As the tide rolls out, Nkaitole’s future might go with it. But it doesn’t have to, even though the odds are stacked against him. He’s from a remote village in sub-Saharan Africa where children don’t exactly have it easy. He’s not used to beach vacations with his family because he’s far too busy for that. Each morning, he wakes up early to herd the cattle his village uses for milk and food. It’s an important job for a child. He’s never chased waves before today; he’s the one who could be chased—mostly by hyenas, elephants or lions. He’s never even seen the ocean before. Technically, he’s never seen blue water. The water in his village, shared with the livestock, is brown and full of disease. And since there’s nothing else to drink, it ends up killing one in five children before their fifth birthday. So for Nkaitole, this day at the beach isn’t a day at the beach at all. It’s just one of the many things that make up his bucket list. Something no four year old should even have in the first place. To make a change in the life of Nkaitole and other children like him, donate to WATERisLIFE.com.

Advertising Agency: DDB, New York, USA
Chief Creative Officer: Matt Eastwood
Executive Creative Director: Menno Kluin
Group Creative Director: Andrew McKechnie
Associate Creative Directors: Frank Cartagena, Sam Shepherd
Head of Design: Juan Carlos Pagan
Designer: Brian Gartside
Photographer: Alec Helm
Photographer: Frank Le Blanc
Retouching: John Cason
Head of Production: Ed Zazzera
Producer: Nina Horowitz
Published: December 2013