Widowed mother of six in Tanzania builds successful business and future

SOS Children's Villages made sure that the children were given uniforms and school books so that they could continue in school. Lavkama herself received a course in business development. And it was here that she came up with the idea of making homemade soaps as a business and a source of income. She could see a gap in the market and knew there was a demand for good soaps in the neighbourhood. SOS Children's Villages helped with Lavkama's business plan and start-up capital to get the first soap productions going.

 
In the beginning, she took a local bus for two hours to a market in the north to sell the soap. She left early in the morning and was back home late at night. But it wasn't long before word of the good soap spread so much that she could run the business from home. Now customers come to her. She sells the soap from her doorstep along with some fruit and vegetables.

"The quality is so good that people ask others where they got their soap from," Lavkama says proudly as she stirs the tub with the liquid soap. A faint coconut scent spreads as the soap mixture collects. In a little while, the soap will be thick enough to be shaped, and in seven hours it will be ready for sale.

 
Lavkama is a bit of a celebrity in the neighbourhood. She is known for her successful entrepreneurship and her enthusiasm, and she has also started teaching other women how to produce soap so they can feed themselves and their families. "And send their children to school," Lavkama says, "That's the most important thing."