'Do Good': Minnesota-Based Didomi Combats Water Crisis With Water Bottles

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- A couple of young men who were born in Africa and raised in St. Paul are changing the world.

Their thoughtful idea is already helping thousands.

The Boys and Girls Club in St. Paul is where Anaa Jibicho became a man.

"I was raised here and so many of my role models and people who have shaped the way that I think," he said.

It's also where Jibicho, a refugee from Ethiopia, became friends with Lamont, a refugee from Liberia.

"This is where me and Lamont actually met. Before that we were in trouble a lot, I got arrested a few times, believe it or not," Jibicho said.

They were just kids, but they had already survived a lot.

"[Lamont] used to walk 2.7 miles every single day barefoot, wake up in the morning to go get water so that his family can have access to clean, safe water," Jibicho said.

And Jibicho himself had endured pain a child should never have to know.

"I actually lost two siblings due to a water-related disease," he said.

The two left St. Paul for college. Lamont graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Jibicho is going into his senior year at Pomona in California.

In between, they always made their way back here.

"The Boys and Girls Club is conducive to hope and so this is a place that is very, very important to me," Jibicho said. "The idea for Didomi came about right here in this room that we're currently in."

Summer 2020 they decided to do something about the water crisis that had pained their childhoods and strained their lives.

"Over a billion people don't have access to clean, safe water. When I found that out, I was heartbroken. I mean, I experienced it firsthand," Jibicho said. "Didomi is a social enterprise dedicated to combatting the water crisis and every single Didomi bottle provides 10 years of water access for someone in Africa who needs it the most."

Didomi produces reusable and resilient water bottles. They now have corporate accounts, and American University just bought 30,000 bottles for its student body.

"By the end of this year we would have impacted about 50,000 people and we would be able to donate almost around that amount of money as well," Jibicho said.

Lamont is on the ground in Africa right now, expanding their clean water reach. Jibicho has a year-and-a-half more of college, then plans to focus on the bottles.

He says the work honors his siblings.

"That's why I started Didomi, essentially, is to honor them and honor almost a billion other people around the world who don't have access to clean, safe water," he said.

Two young men who found hope at the Boys and Girls Club and bottled it up. At the bottom of each bottle is a message: Do good.

"And that's the idea," Jibicho said.

Didomi sells their water bottles online. The cost starts at $28.