Student develops wash bag for use by refugees in transit

An Irish student has won acclaim for developing a product that helps refugees maintain their personal hygiene while in transit.

Inspired by his experience of volunteering in the infamous tent city in Calais in January, John Godfrey of the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) wanted to help alleviate sanitation issues that were affecting the quality of life of the camp's inhabitants.

After almost half a year of honing, the final-year product design student has finalised a portable wash bag containing essential components including soap, sanitiser, a toothbrush and toothpaste, as well as practical items such as a torch and a 10-litre collapsible camp shower.

The wash bag is designed to be discreet, compact and easily transportable. Its contents last a month, after which the owner can continue to use the actual bag itself as they see fit.

Most importantly, Godfrey wanted the product to be something that can be used by anyone, rather than just aimed at refugees.

‘Buy one give one’

He plans to implement a “buy one give one” model whereby a festival-goer or camper who purchases a wash bag automatically donates one to people in need elsewhere.

“Coming back from Calais, I knew hygiene and sanitation were probably the largest problems in the camp at the time, with no plumbing systems and poor irrigation, and I wanted to do something that helps people,” he said.

“Right now there are a lot of young people who know about the issues, but it’s with people they’ve never met from places they’ve never been who speak languages that they’ve never even heard of.

“With humanitarian aid, it comes across as not very appealing to people, whereas I wanted something that everybody could universally understand and get behind, and feel like they’re not holding a big red cross,” he added.

Godfrey has developed three prototypes for men, women and children, and they will go on display at the NCAD Graduate Exhibition between June 17th and 26th.

He is hoping to attract interest from some of the larger manufacturers of personal hygiene products such as Unilever with a view to making the wash bags commercially available in future.

The wash bags and contents have a production cost of €6, meaning a sale price of €12 would cover a second unit for donation.

Asked if he stands to make much money from the idea, Godfrey said he regards it as an opportunity to do something selfless for displaced peoples around the world.

“Giving of myself to something that’s greater than myself is the aim... It’s not the answer to the bigger problem at hand, it’s not meant to be the answer either, but it’s something small,” he said.

The 22-year-old Blackrock native believes his visit to Calais awakened a humanitarian consciousness within himself, and he is about to embark on an internship in the Netherlands with a company that works with people affected by landmines buried throughout the world.