Women in Business in Kavango East is equipping locals with skills to make their own soap and cleaning products, with a Kenyan trainer teaching the lessons.
Chairperson Loise Garosas said the organisation hosted a refresher course over the weekend, teaching residents how to make foam bath soap, sta-soft and other soaps.
The skills were passed on by a woman from Kenya, who first trained participants in August. About 30 people took part in that session, three of them men.
“It came about in August this year, when one of the women from Kenya I met at one of the trade fairs had the knowledge and when I saw it, I asked her if she could train us.
So, after that I introduced her to the governor who immediately fell in love with the idea and asked to officially open the events,” she said.
Garosas said the refresher course is meant to keep participants working well while they wait for the next session with the Kenyan trainer, scheduled for 1 to 5 November.
The trainer also taught participants how to grow garlic and ginger, which Garosas described as some of the most important plants.
“Not only did Jane Ndungu teach us how to make foam soap, but we were taught how to grow garlic, ginger and other crucial plants,” she added.
The initiative has the backing of the Kavango East governor Bonifatius Wakudumo, who officially opened the first training session. Garosas said everyone who attended the August session will receive certificates at the November training.
Looking ahead, the group plans to provide land for the Kenyan trainer, since she is the one who has the products used in making the soap.
“This lady is the only one with the products used to make these kinds of soaps and as a group, we feel the need to give her land, so she sets up to make it easy for us to get the products from her,” she explained.
-mkambukwe@nepc.co.na
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