Katutura Soap goes it alone

THE Katutura Soap Project is now wholly Namibian owned and run after its founders handed the project over to the Namibian beneficiaries and returned to Finland.

The project was formed to help HIV-positive women and their children by producing handmade Namibian soaps. The project was started in 2009 by Maarika Hoppula. In 2010 it moved to the Mount Sinai Centre and today the project has five women working there. Hoppula trained the women in soap-making and using recycled material for packaging. Maria Ndjigwa is now the project leader and hopes to be able to grow the project so that they can employ more women. ‘We are so happy and proud that we now own this project and we will do our best to make the people who started this for us happy and proud,’ says Emilia Handumbo. The women give a percentage of their profit to organisations that help people with HIV-AIDS.All the soaps are made from olive oil produced in Swakopmund. They contain no preservatives and are thus skin friendly and of very high quality. The women have also started making soap from ontanga (a wild melon) oil. The ontanga oil is produced in northern Namibia. The ontanga soap is yellow while the olive-oil soaps are white. The soaps are packed in recycled material and the project hopes to encourage other members of the community to recycle. The women also produce little soaps especially for guest houses.People wanting to order soap have to give four weeks’ notice, as the soaps are hand made and need to dry properly. Ndjigwa can be contacted at 081 209 7649 for orders.