Thank you for stopping by. I am working with the Christian charity Tamu International Mission and a local church in Kenya.

Who is Tamu International Mission?

Tamu was founded by Afriye Donkor following a partnership with Leamis International. Afriyie is a skincare consultant, with over 15 years’ experience making natural soaps and beauty products. She is a CIPD sales trainer and business growth specialist. Please see www.makeyourownskincare.co.uk for further details. The goal of Tamu International mission is to improve the lives of women living in extreme poverty in through skills soap making, business planning and economic development.

Why I set up just giving?

I am passionate about all things creative and helping people! Like most poor women in African nations, the majority of Maasai women in Kenya are destined to live a life of poverty and cultural oppression. As a creative African woman myself, my aim is to raise enough money to go to Kenya with a team and teach the women how to make soap and build a co-operative selling the product to support their families. Your help will raise enough money for equipment, supplies, ingredients and operate in a fit for purpose building.

Why Soap making?

The simplicity of soap and hand washing education is attractive. Soap making is generally a highly profitable and very fast selling product that requires low startup capital. This is a business that is extremely lucrative. It offers reliable and constant revenue for those who are producing and those who are marketing the soap either in wholesale or retail. The beauty of soap is that everybody uses it and many of the ingredients needed can be sourced locally or grown. The collection of natural ingredients such as shea butter, cocoa butter, coconut oils and local herbs can, itself, form the basis for small micro-enterprises in rural communities.

How will the project solve the problem?

This is truly an exciting initiative which sets out to transform the economic condition of marginalised women and break the cycle of poverty in Africa. Soap making can form the perfect basis for a sustainable enterprise. Many of the women will be enrolled in the workshop, where they will learn to make natural soap. In 2018, enrolled were 30 widows and 30 women who escaped from abuse, we are aiming for more this year. I will be travelling with our team in September for 10 days. Using money from this page, they can purchase natural ingredients, equipment and packaging from local people and use the supplies to produce handmade soap to sell.

What is the long-term impact of this project?

First, through the fun, creative workshops, the women build self-esteem and regain their confidence from being stigmatised because of their poverty and illiteracy.

Second, we want to empower otherwise unemployable women to get back on their feet, earn an income – thus allowing them to create a future for their families and communities.

Third, natural soap making has multiple benefits for the environment. Our focus is to use what comes from the earth, preferably organic, minimally processed, biodegradable and maximally sustainable. The long-term goal is to assist the women in growing their own herbs and ingredients for the soap. This eco-friendly way of making soap contain no harmful toxic ingredients that harm the environment, wildlife and our skin.

I truly believe that Africa's way out of poverty is empowering people to learn a trade and with your help, we will help a lot of not so fortunate women.

Any support you can give would be an amazing help for the women we are going to serve. Thank you!

With love, Tosin.xx