When the San were constantly on the move, water was hard to come by. Usually during the dry season their moisture came from scraping and squeezing roots for drinking. Root water was also used for bathing and cleaning oneself.
This past week I (Claudia) learned how to make homemade soap. It is good skill that can be life saving.
The leading causes of death for children in developing countries are hygiene-related illnesses, which claim more than 1.6 million lives each year. That’s nearly one-third of all child deaths. Hand-washing with soap is the single most effective way to prevent those deaths. Research has shown that soap can reduce diarrhea disease by nearly one-half and rates of respiratory infection by about one-quarter. Hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved each year if people had soap and understood how to properly wash their hands.
Now that the San have settled, they are exposed to more germs and diseases than ever before. Alisia Okebe, a social worker at the Tsumkwe clinic says, “Most of the San community live under conditions that promote infection because adequate shelter and hygiene are almost non-existent.”
I pray God can use soap making as an outreach to the San community in Tsumkwe.
Ha3els in Africa 