Enactus Germany – Project “Soap Star”

We are student group at the Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany, involved in the organization Enactus Germany. Enactus is an international non-profit organization enabling students to improve the world through entrepreneurial action. Guided by instructors and supported by business leaders, we students take the kind of entrepreneurial approach that empowers people to be a part of their own success. Enactus teams are active in 36 countries worldwide, at 1700 universities with 69,000 students.

Recently, we have founded our project “Soap Star”. We want to improve the financial situation of Maasai women in the Kilimanjaro region in Tanzania, because unfortunately 47% of the Tanzanians are forced to survive on less than 1,90 USD per day (Source: Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development)! By starting their own soap business, the importance of hygiene for health should become more apparent and as a consequence, the rapid spread of diseases, such as diarrhoea, shall be embanked to some extent. With our cooperation partner Life-Needs-Water, who is active in this region, we want to empower locals to make soap on their own and sell it on local markets.

At first, we will send some bars of soap to Tanzania and carry out a market research, after that some team members will fly to the region and teach the Maasai women how to produce soap on their own and emphasize the connection between soap and health. We found a sustainable, secure and cheap way to produce soap out of organic waste, for example out of banana peels. Traditional Maasai herbs shall be added to create a unique product. After the process of soap hardening, the Maasai will sell them on local and tourism markets and in the lodges to generate an income. Finally, when the business is going well, more Maasai women will participate through a “train-the-trainer programme“ to give more women the opportunity to benefit from the hygienic knowledge and the soap production.

Contakt: Rabea.schmitt@rub.enactus.de
For more information about our organization see: enactus.de