Study Tour of Soap Making

Study tour of soap making was carried out in April 2010 in Afrasu, the isolated forest fringe community beside TAIN1 Forest Reserve in Sunyani Forest District. We welcomed four visitors from two communities and one observer of Assembly Man of New Wench Area. Though it was the first joint tour collaborated among communities since JOCV have been attached, all the participants learned one another successfully and practical site training seemed to give them certain confidence.

To arrange the meeting, prepare materials, exercise...everything takes their own flow. What we, outside strangers, can do is just to adapt their way, time and mind. Only these lead cooperation and ownership.  

The background was that Afrasu Soap-Making members has succeeded in regular production of soap with PALM OIL, the reasonable local product, since the PAFORM project has ended in March 2009 which had introduced them the soap making method with coconut oils as a part of Income Generation Activity for poverty reduction. This time, the soap making groups in Kofitumkrom and Amoakrom beside NSEMERE Forest Reserve as well as participated in the PAFORM project launched reorganization and readied to restart the activity. Innovative soap making way with palm oil was demonstrated by experienced Afrasu members to give the practical site training to Kofitumkrom and Amoakrom members.

   The purpose of this tour was that participants remind the process and make sure the effective use of palm oil in making soap. The interaction among the communities is expected to bring out chemistry to lead further self-effort and development of the groups.

Participants were from Kofitumkrom and Amoakrom, led by my colleague Afia Naomi who is JOCV in community development. These communities are located beside NSEMERE Forest Reserve and took part in PAFORM project as well. Two representative women attended from each community. And we welcomed one Assembly Man represented New Wench here, Mr. Prince, who engaged in PAFORM project as a community facilitator in Afrasu 1 & 2. Unfortunately he could not observe the demonstration but gave the compliment at last part of the workshop and discussed community internal issues such as broken borehole.

My precursor & Successor, Mr.Prince. His enthusiasm and facilitation encouraged and taught more than any other lecture or textbook about community development. 

Demonstration started with praying at 10am and closed with discussion at 12am on that day. Afrasu members showed the process to boil the oil, add chemicals, and pour the soda step by step. Visitors questioned each procedure and functions of ingredients because Afrasu members did not recognize the names of the chemicals which each shop sells different kinds of. Four visitors also practiced to stir the oil with soda instead of demonstrators, and helped last process to run it into the form. Then we discussed the way of producing palm oil by manufacture and its costs in comparison with purchase it, and so on. Demonstrators successfully performed with enough attention, and visitors showed much interest and participated in practice actively. The process of making soap is followings;

   PROCESS to make the soap of 1 box (about 60 pieces)

*Mix caustic soda (sodium hydrogen) with water and leave more than 3 days to steady

* Measure temperature less than 1275F with 1 gallon (1 loca bucket) of the mixed soda water and adjust it with water

*Boil 2 gallon of palm oil about 10 min until the colour has changed from turbid red to clear dark yellow

* Put each 200cc (2 tomato tin cup) of chemicals (foaming agent and builder, this time)

* Stir perfume (1 cap of plastic bottle) and colouring (proper amount) sufficiently

* Add the measured soda water (1 gallon) to the mixed oil carefully and stir completely

* Run the mixed ingredient into the wooden form with plastic

* Leave more than 1 day, cut the soap and stamp neatly (done in the next morning)

We gained some fruitful outcomes from this site training. One thing is that this site training proved the effective and economical way to use palm oil for making soap. Second is that all the participants deepened confidence with what they had done, that is to say demonstrators performed successfully and visitors learned the process through the practice. Third is that interaction among the communities surely accelerated and stimulated the activity one another. This chemistry will definitely push up each group activity of soap making into next stage forward further development.

Lastly, I state way forward and challenges of soap making activity in the community. We continue to produce soaps and practice calculations to make sure costs and profits. And I also introduced them  AMONKYE, which is the potential local soap made in traditional way without any artificial chemicals. We have several challenges such that members are not conscious of cost effectiveness and importance of appearance, and imbalance of each members’ contribution can somehow trigger another problem. To connect new market outside such as foreign consumers who prefer natural healthy product with interest in poverty reduction, we have to tackle these matters.