Yellow Jerry Cans Everywhere

Last year I first spotted the yellow jerry can being used to store water in Antalaha prison, the inmates collecting every precious drop when the water finally resumed as the taps were typically dry.

Since being here again, I am seeing jerry cans around every corner, creatively re-purposed in all kinds of ways. I’ve even seen re-cycling bins made from up-cycled jerry cans. They were originally designed by the Germans in the 1930s to hold 20 liters of fuel for military use during WW11. Hence the pejorative word “Jerry”. These heavy-duty plastic cans are efficient and easy to stack, which is probably why they are still around. Today in Madagascar, they serve as holding containers for selling cooking oil. When empty, the jerry cans are sold and reused. For how much, I forgot to ask.

My favorite photo is the jerry can transformed into sand sled. My problem now is that I am so attuned to spotting jerry cans, that whenever I see something yellow, I stop to take a second look.

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You are What You Eat

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Hunger and Starvation - Interview with a 14 Year Old Detainee