Why Women ?
Women and girls living in rural and remote areas of Laos are often the most disadvantaged. Frequently due to economic contribution to the village, men are usually described as the heads of the households, representing their families at official meetings. Many women are illiterate and do not speak the national language used for education. Prevailing social and cultural norms mean women are not confident to give their opinions, and do not demonstrate simple meeting skills such as taking turns to speak out. Therefore, often women cannot participate fully in village development activity processes other than domestic activity.
Soap4Life teaches women how to use locally available resources in a sustainable way. S4L supports equally women and men of the villages to produce products from locally sourced coconuts, pig fat, pandan, turmeric and a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. They are trained to improve the quality of the products and in marketing in order to increase their income. Once their soap products meet established standards, they are then offered to Fair Trade buyers for export. The training is generational as mothers will teach daughters and daughters will teach their children.
By rolling out our business model in remote villages in Lao where women become business owners, we can collectively help in eliminating gender inequality and empower women in society. We are a proud part of a growing notion that says empowering women through business creates not only revenue generation, but also an entire global investment concept. What we hope our audience, donors and all interested parties understand is that though our organization is a not-for-profit establishment, the objective of the on-going, never-going-to-die project is to create very real, tangible measures of success in the private business sector for the women whom we are teaching to make and market their soap products from locally sourced materials.
Soap4Life teaches women how to use locally available resources in a sustainable way. S4L supports equally women and men of the villages to produce products from locally sourced coconuts, pig fat, pandan, turmeric and a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. They are trained to improve the quality of the products and in marketing in order to increase their income. Once their soap products meet established standards, they are then offered to Fair Trade buyers for export. The training is generational as mothers will teach daughters and daughters will teach their children.
By rolling out our business model in remote villages in Lao where women become business owners, we can collectively help in eliminating gender inequality and empower women in society. We are a proud part of a growing notion that says empowering women through business creates not only revenue generation, but also an entire global investment concept. What we hope our audience, donors and all interested parties understand is that though our organization is a not-for-profit establishment, the objective of the on-going, never-going-to-die project is to create very real, tangible measures of success in the private business sector for the women whom we are teaching to make and market their soap products from locally sourced materials.
