Bar soap making
Location: Kadungulu, Uganda
Project leadtime: 3 months
Requestor: Joseph Apetu for Resilient Villages Uganda (Revuganda)
Description of the project:
The project aims to sustainably increase the income of single mothers by making bar soap. This will improve nutrition, health and income for 30 single mothers who are heads of vulnerable households living in extreme poverty, unable to provide for their families and send their children to school.
Bar soap is one of the most popular forms of soap in Uganda. It is a low-cost cleaning agent that you will find in most homes in Uganda. It is made from salts of vegetables or animal fats. Starting a bar soap business requires low investment capital but has good returns.
70% of the income generated shall be divided equally among the 30 single mothers that will be organised into one self-help group. 30% of the income generated will be ploughed back into the project for the expansion of the bar soap business.
Every two years the project will identify new groups of 30 single mothers who can benefit from the project.
Objectives:
- To support 30 single mothers to become financially independent, selfsupporting and resilient by creating sustainable livelihoods and enhancing their income generating capacity through bar soap making.
2. To establish an effective Monitoring and Evaluation system for the successful implementation of the project.
Beneficiaries:
The project will directly benefit 30 single mothers who are heads of vulnerable families living in extreme poverty .These women will be organized in to one self-help group consisting of 30 members and they will work in shifts of 10 women per week on a rotational basis. Indirectly, the project will benefit over 1.500 people.
Budget: 9.662 € (37.664.000 UgSh )
Risks:
Women from vulnerable families, who live in great poverty without income, turn to prostitution to survive (fish/food in exchange for sex). This can only be prevented by increasing their financial independence.
Attached documents:
Detailed project proposal and budget
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Follow-up of the project
Date: June 24th, 2024
Name project: Bar soap making
General status:
The project will enhance single mothers’ ability to acquire sustainable income streams through bar soap making, that will enable them to earn income, provide for their families and send their children to school. They have formed a self-help group to build their capacity in bar soap making and link them to organized markets so that they can run the business sustainably and generate income.
Progress since last status report:
The project conducted a five-day practical training on laundry soap making at its headquarters in Kadungulu Sub County from May 13 to May 17, 2024. A consultant was hired to train a total of 30 participants, all single mothers who are heads of vulnerable families, on how to locally produce three types of high-quality laundry soap (saponification, cold process and hot process, necessary equipment and raw materials, safety and regulations, financial information and certification).
From May 29 to 30, 2024, there was a two-day training on group dynamics, saving and borrowing, and entrepreneurship, planning and management (administration) at Fr. Omoding nursery and primary school.
Subsequently, the project conducted monthly project monitoring covering the month of May, June and July to monitor and evaluate the outcomes, review experiences, successes and challenges in the project and identify mechanisms for sustainability. 30 litres of gasoline were procured to facilitate monthly project monitoring.
Financial status:
We have spent 97% (36,064,000 UGX) of the total funds received for the implementation of the project. The remaining funds (1,600,000 UGX) will be utilized for conducting end of project evaluation (1,000,000 Ugx) and payment of electricity for electricity bar soap making machine (600,000 Ugx).
Problems/concerns:
The connection of electricity to the soap machine production store was delayed. Umeme (government company) hopes to receive the meters by mid-July so that the power can be connected to the production shop and the electricity soap machine can start functioning and produce 250 bars of soap per day.
Attached documents (pictures, receipts,…):
Pictures, receipts, invoices, purchase order, letter of engagement, training reports, attendance list
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Follow-up august 2024
Date: August 28th 2024
Name project: Bar soap making
General status:
The project has supported 30 single mothers who are heads of vulnerable families to become financially independent, self-supporting and resilient by creating sustainable livelihoods and enhancing their income generating capacity through bar soap making which has impacted on the lives of their children, affording their education, meals, medical care, and safe housing.
Progress since last status report:
Since the inception of the project beneficiaries were able to produce 160 bars of soap per day using the manual table cutter bar soap machine.
Bar soap is mostly sold from the production store where community members come and buy it directly and it’s also transported by the Tuk-Tuk motorcycle to weekly markets and distributed to retail shops located in far trading centers. Women work in shifts of 10 people per week. They hold shift meetings every Sunday to review sales targets, expenditure, experiences, successes, and challenges faced during the week.
The project carried out an end-of-project evaluation: 70% of the income generated was divided equally among the 30 single mothers. 30% of the income generated was invested back into the project for the purchase of ingredients and equipment and of 3 manual table cutter bar soap machines, with the intention to expand the bar soap business by establishing mini-production centers in Kagwara, Apapai, and Bugondo in September 2024. These will bring the soap making business nearer to the final consumer, expand the income base and cut supply costs.
The project was able to make the required payments for an electricity connection. When this will be achieved, we expect the electricital bar soap making machine to start functioning in September 2024 leading to an increase of the daily production of bar soap from 160 bars to 250 bars per day. During electricity blackouts the manual table cutter machines will continue functioning guaranteeing continuous production.
Financial status:
We have spent 100% (37,664,000 UGX) of the total funds received for the implementation of the project.
Problems/concerns:
Since there are very many requests for electricity connections (by Smart Cables Uganda limited), the connection for Kadungulu area has been scheduled in the second week of September 2024. REVU has already made the payments to Smart Cables Uganda limited to expedite the process. This will facilitate the production of 250 bars of soap per day.
Attached documents (pictures, receipts,…):
Invoice, pictorials, and receipts.
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