Safe Drinking Water for 40 schools in Bolivia

Dear supporter,

In this report we want to share with you some experiences and activities that had a volunteer working in the school on the soap Project.

-- My first soap production experience --

"As I’m neither a chemist nor an economist, I proposed that I could help looking for solutions together and discussing possible problems. I went the next day and met de teachers responsible for the manufacture of soaps.

The teachers listed the ingredients and steps of production and the problems they have when the result is not good. They said the consistency of the soaps sometimes is very dry and sometimes is too wet.

Ok so let’s start!

We put pots and a kitchen, the bicimáquina, buckets, kitchen utensils and some goggles and gloves for protection in the playground of the school.

Some students helped lay the butter in pots, and the teachers did the rest of the works. They heated butter, mixed it with caustic soda, dyes and aroma put on mass and mixed all of it with the bicimáquina for about an hour.

And Tada!

In the end they poured the soap in small buckets and on a tray. So the soap can dry few days.

Then I went back but the soaps were still very wet and we decided to leave them in the buckets

Finally it took more than 3 weeks … It was clear they were not satisfied with the production as it was at this time … but we got soap!! “

Thanks to the volunteer’s help, we are now working to improve some steps of the soap production:

• Involving more student in the process of making soap
• Improving safety in the manufacture of soap, four gloves and goggles are not enough and caustic soda is very toxic
• The recipe: the teachers produce as they have in mind. That's fine, but when would like to improve something, they do not know how it should be.

But at the same time we have to keep in mind that, this is a rural school with not a lot of financial resources but they use what they have. Also providing hand washing a key moment and hygiene.

We thank you in advance for your support. And feel free to reach us if you have some questions and comments!

With warm greetings from the whole project team,