Welcome to Uwezo
Derived from the Swahili word for 'dignity,' Uwezo is more than just a handmade soap company. Every bar you buy restores dignity and fosters self-reliance. Crafted with love and natural ingredients, our handmade soaps not only rejuvenate your skin but also empower people in refugee camps with the essential skill of soap-making. Experience the luxury of cleanliness while making a difference. Give the gift of dignity today.
Choose from our natural handmade soaps
Proceeds from each purchase fund our research into developing new, accessible, soap making methods for use by people living in refugee camps.
An essential tool of empowerment and dignity is often taken for granted—Soap.
The Birth of the Uwezo Soap Project
Mapenzi Kinege's Uwezo Soap Project Story
Mapenzi Kinege, Founder
My name is Mapenzi Kinege, I am a Global Health Masters of Public Health student at the University of Washington in Seattle. I was born near Goma in the beautiful but war-torn country of the Democratic Republic of Congo, sometime in 2000 or 2001.
As an infant, I ended up on the side of a road in a conflict zone near the Tanzanian border. Somehow by the grace of God and kind people, I was discovered and carried into the Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania as a baby without a family.
Mapenzi spent Fall 2023 in Nepal teaching women in rural communities to make soap.
Nyarugusu Refugee Camp in Tanzania
The Nyarugusu Camp is where our founder, Mapenzi, grew up until he was 15-years-old
Imagine washing yourself, your clothes and your dishes with only 1 small bar of soap per month!
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In some refugee camps, more than half of households have no access to soap.
Those that do often get just one bar per month.
Become Part of Our Story!
In 2 crucial ways you can make a difference in the life of a person living in a refugee camp.
Make a positive change in the lives of others. If you believe as I do, that everyone deserves access to soap, you can donate directly to accelerate our research efforts, moving us closer to preserving the health, grace, and dignity of refugees.
Accelerate our research! We're developing new, accessible,
soap making methods for use by people living in refugee camps.
