Youth entrepreneurship through soap-making and marketing
Youth unemployment is a big challenge in Uganda. Many from poor families either fail to complete high school or are unable to find employment with a college education. At Hope Academy, we strive to gain entrepreneurship skills through practical learning. The students learn how to make herbal soap and jelly which they also sell in the local markets.
The main objective of the soap project is three-fold:
- to provide employable skills to our students and local youth in soap production and marketing. With such skills they are well-equipped to start their own businesses and become job creators.
- to generate income using local resources to produce a product with a local market.;
- to act as a means of improving hygiene of the students at Hope Integrated Academy and the families in the surrounding community. Some families are very poor and struggle to afford soap and result in rapid spread of germs causing ill health for families. Some schools don’t have soap at the latrines which expose the kids to the danger of contracting diseases. Soap production will be integrated in our on-going health talks we conduct in schools which involves teaching kids the importance of washing hands after using the latrine.
The herbal soap and jelly are ideal for healing skin diseases such as: acne, pimples, ring worms, psoriasis, skin rush, scabies, etc.
The soap is sold in local markets, in the villages, and at various schools. We hope to open up a store in the big town in order to access a large market share.
Funding support is still needed to boost production so we can reach a wider market base. The demand is very high and our current production does not meet that demand. Any financial support will be greatly appreciated.
