Sweet smell of success

Awa Coulibaly Samake is soapmaker-in-chief in Nafadji, Mali. As well as improving hygiene though handwashing the group earn a small income from the soap they sell.

Credit: Charlie Bibby/FT

Barney Jopson, The Financial Times East
Africa Correspondent, reports on a WaterAid project that's combating disease in Mali.

Awa Coulibaly Samake slips two plastic bags over her hands, pulls a pair of old socks over the top, and puts the finishing touches to her do-it-yourself recipe to combat germs.

She is shaping a sticky plaster-like mixture into a sweet-smelling sphere. They are low-cost soap balls and Coulibaly is soapmaker-in-chief in the Nafadji district of Bamako, the capital of dustblown Mali. It is one of dozens of poor countries where, health experts say, handwashing with soap can have the transformative effect of a vaccination. 

Washing hands with soap at critical times of the day – after going to the toilet and before eating – is not common practice among the poorest in many parts of Africa and Asia.

But because doing so breaks the hand-borne transmission of toxins – common in places with no toilets and drainage – its health benefits can be dramatic.

We want to wash our hands, but we cannot afford modern soap.  – Dolo Tayour, Jigi, Mali

According to a study published in the medical journal, The Lancet, handwashing with soap can reduce cases of diarrhoea by up to 47 per cent. Another study says it can reduce acute respiratory infections such as pneumonia by up to 50 per cent. 

Those two illnesses are the biggest killers of children under the age of five in the world today, accounting for 36 per cent of nearly 10 million annual infant deaths, according to UNICEF.

That is why WaterAid has helped Coulibaly to set up her own soap production line with a group of other women in Nafadji.

Dolo Tayour of Jigi, one of the local partner organisations through which WaterAid works, recalls what happened when he first began evening hygiene education lessons in Nafadji. "The women said, 'Yes, we want to wash our hands. But we cannot afford modern soap.'"

Women mould the soap into balls which sell for CFA Fr125 (17p), half the price of a manufactured bar.

Credit: Charlie Bibby/FT

That is when Jigi decided to train the women to make their own soap and provide them with a credit line to buy the ingredients: several kilos of butter made from the nuts of the shea tree, plus caustic soda, starch, washing power and perfume.

Now every Saturday is soap making day, when five or six women start a fire beneath a giant metal pot in a graffiti strewn courtyard and embark on the five-hour process.

Coulibaly's group sells the soap to neighbours for CFA Fr125 (17p), half the price of a manufactured bar. With the profits, they hope eventually to open a guest house.

But the cost of soap is just one barrier to handwashing. There are cultural obstacles too, says Myriam Sidibe, a Malian who manages global handwashing promotion for Unilever, the consumer goods giant.

In some parts of the world diarrhoea caused by dirty hands is seen as normal, she says. "People think every child should have it. That it makes your immune system stronger."

Some West African men refuse to wash their hands because "the cleaner your hands are the more likely you are to drop your money. They think it's better to have sticky hands," she adds.

Dolo Tayour says some Malians believe that if they wash their hands after a good meal
of chicken, for example – then they will not eat that food again for a long time.

Coulibaly says people recognise their hands get dirty when they see the murky water draining off them as they wash. But logic is not always enough. "Look at cigarettes," she says. "There are even doctors who smoke them."

This article was first published in The Financial Times on 13 December 2008.

We hope this campaign will help place water and sanitation issues further up the global agenda.
– Lionel Barber, Editor, The Financial Times

The Financial Times supports WaterAid

WaterAid was delighted to be selected by The Financial Times for their 2008 seasonal appeal, which ran from November to mid-January. A series of articles featured in the paper and audio slideshows and films were published on their website highlighting WaterAid's work in Mali, Nepal and Bangladesh. Lionel Barber, Editor of The Financial Times said: "This year's FT Seasonal Appeal charity has for the first time been selected by FT staff from around the globe. We are delighted to be supporting WaterAid and we hope this campaign will help place water and sanitation issues further up the global agenda." The appeal raised £150,000 for our work and also raised vital awareness of the water and sanitation crisis. Thank you to everyone who donated and to The Financial Times for their support. Full coverage of the appeal is available online at www.ft.com/wateraid (opens in a new window) and on WaterAid's FT pages. Credit: Charlie Bibby/FT