Soap Making Trainings with Six Groups in Two Villages in Conjunction with Hand Washing Stations
World Connect approved my small grant to conduct soap making trainings, for income generation, and hand washing (Tippy Tap) stations to be constructed at every latrine and eating place. These tangible projects work in tandem with the intangible behavior change trainings on hand washing, hygiene and disease prevention that my counterparts and I are conducting. I am so thankful for their contribution as the first (larger) project I am undertaking by myself.
But, as I have learned time and time again, here in Senegal, things take a lot longer to get started and finished than the Toubabs would like. I thought I could get this entire project done in two months, but I have been materializing this project since the end of March. But, it is finally coming around! We just have a budget issue with obtaining the last of the containers for the Tippy Tap construction. Supply and Demand. And, when that demand comes from a Toubab, the Supply always seems to decrease, thus increasing the price. I just found the last 47 containers, and I will send my counterpart, Hoyo, down to further negotiate the price down to something more acceptable and comparable to my budget price.
The Soap Trainings went swimmingly! Everyone was excited to attend their session and learn the different techniques. I made two batches with each group, trying not to repeat the same variation more than once. Then, they can train each other on soaps they learned so the two villages can be involved in a training of trainers of all the variations.
I separated the women from the men so that there would be no gender roles and/or gender discrimination. I showed the men two cooking techniques, one over the fire and one in the sun. The men are really interested in selling and marketing techniques of the soap. I talked openly about selling the soap with the men, but I made sure that the women knew that the reason for these trainings were to supply the Tippy Tap stations each month with their supply of soap, to increase the village’s proactive healthy lifestyle. I had to reiterate that the soap is to be made for the hand washing stations, not to wash clothes. I gave them a recipe for laundry soap, but did not make it with them so the focused stayed on “Clean Hands,” which is the title of my World Connect Project.
We made citrus, hibiscus with exfoliating factors, wood ash (which I encouraged to be in every soap batch because it has anti-microbial factors in it), moranga, mint, Shea Butter and multi layered soaps with different varieties.
In this video this woman is fulfilling one of the training's requirements: to be able to describe step-by-step how to make soap including quantities and timeframes.
Transcription: (Note: Pulaar isn't (formally) a written language)
Banga panji diidii
pan yo’oo, mbada kilo thiekeri mbdadda too pan go’to
mbaddat o daa kala pan go’to mbaddat o daa o kala kilo thiekeriji
si a waddii dum haa pardi
banga ndyiam, litterji tatti ndydiam
mbaddi o haa dum pardi
o daa kala pardi, litter tatti ndyiam dam, dum pardi,
jillondirat pew
onsuma,
banga calata, banngat lidde, janginat calata haa parrat, sagginat haa tiidat, si o (ndyiam dum) yorat, wancinat
mbaddat kilo karité, mbdaat toon, to calata toon, yossat dum, haa mbo tayiiat
si tayii’ii pew, onsuma …. calata jippipinii, haa boobat, si o boobtii
Mbaddat litterji joey dullin, calata, si a waddat litterji joey dullin haa burti o
onsuma mbaddat …... (muffled nonsense)
wancinat a haa pardi dirtulat haa, haa tekkat, (coleii carton haa parrat, onsuma..) wancieni o kalii haa pardi
Q: balde njelu .. balde haa a wowwi fetchat?
wadde .. balde diidii, balde diidii haa si fimmi onsuma bayda haa pardi sii fifimi pardi acha haa jonti didi fadat haa jonti didi,onsuma lardat, o yorrat
Q: thiekeriji, heure njelu waddi nder doo
thererey si a waddo o thiekeri kilo goto nder litterji tatti ndyiam dum haa heureji njelu?
heure goto.
Translation:
Get two rubber containers
in the first container, put one kilo of caustic soda,
do that to the other container
When they are both ready
add three litters of water to each of them
stir them both
then
grab the cooking pot, take wood, light the wood, start cooking, put water in the pot, once dry,
put the one kilo of shea butter into the cooking pot, melt it until it is all liquid
once it is all liquid, then take the cooking pot of the fire until it is cooled.
Add five liters of oil into the pot, once you add the five liters of oil until it is cool (and mixed)
then you do (muffled talk of no importance)
Pour it all once it is ready into the caustic soda and water, stir until it is thick (tape the tarp to the cardboard box for a mold, then..) pour all of it in the box.
Question: How many days.. how many days until you are able to cut it?
You do... two days. Two days you can separate the soap pieces, then you have to wait until two weeks, look to see if it is fully dry.
Question: Caustic Soda, How long to do inside the container.. The caustic soda, if you put the one kilo of caustic soda with the three litters of water, how long do you have to wait until the mixture is done?
One hour.
** Disclosure: Pulaar cannot be literally translated into English and vice versa. So, the English verbs that I translated from Pulaar aren't always the literal meanings of those verbs
My First Group of women preparing the boxes for the soap form
Group photo before pouring the soap mixture into the boxes
Group photo in front of my hut
Teaching the men's group the sun heating technique that does not require a wood, cooking rocks or a pot to melt the mixture. The sun is too hot. Nange no wuuli haa bursi!
A bird's eye view of some of the soaps before I cut them
This is a multi-layer, wood ash and shea butter soap
This is a multi-layer marbled woodash and hibiscus soap
This is a multi-layered woodash and citron-orange soap with exfoliation factors
Welcome to my life of being crafty. I am making stencils with the Peace Corps Logo and World Connect Logo to spray paint on the Tippy Tap Stations, for a beautification factor for a behavior change strategy.
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