THE Women’s Association of Aishalton Village, Deep South Rupununi, is now producing their own homemade soaps, using organic materials presently available in their village.
According to a release from the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Owen DeSouza of DeSouza Estate Establishment in Linden, imparted his knowledge to the women folk at the village recently.

They were taught the process of producing a variety of Soaps using their home-grown fruits, vegetables, legumes, lemons, coconuts among other materials.  Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Valerie Garrido-Lowe, was present during the recent ministerial outreach when DeSouza taught the women.

Immacaulata Casimero, the Chairperson of the Aishalton Women’s Association, said the women were elated following the learning process and she noted that they were empowered to becoming independent and potentially outstanding soap producers.  “Having so much raw materials in my village, there’s so much that can be done with it because we have never learnt, but because minister is here and she brought Mr. DeSouza, it’s something that is good and a great initiative that we can start in our community, where we can have women having an income for their own selves. I look forward to trying it on my own with my women’s group and we can start and see how we can make soap,” Casimero assured.

DeSouza said he was pleased with the overwhelming response from the women and the general village population, who turned out in their numbers to take on this challenge and share in the experience. “Aishalton has so much raw materials, it’s amazing that the people are so rich in raw materials and the soil is so fertile, they have so much fruits and food on the whole. I would like to give back to the community by teaching them to make soaps and other products. They have lemon and that is a big product, and I already taught them to make lemon oil and lemon soap,” DeSouza said.

Speaking of opportunities available, DeSouza noted that “Aishalton is a promising place with potential and it only needs the people to exploit their resources to ensure a sustainable livelihood”.

He was also surprised by the women who experimented with their own creations and who were able to present mango soaps to him after the training session. DeSouza thanked Minister Garrido-Lowe for making his visit possible, and for her unwavering commitment to indigenous peoples’ development, especially women, children and youth. DeSouza’s Establishment produces several “Sensational Skin Care Oils” and Creams using organic materials such as fruits, vegetables, coconut among others.

Meanwhile, Minister Garrido-Lowe said she was pleased to be able to create avenues for economic empowerment of the women, who will in turn be able to provide for their families and bring the good life promised by the caring David Granger-led coalition government.
“This is what this government is doing for you, sharing knowledge with you so that you in turn can use your knowledge to uplift your standard of living, which means you can make money out of the knowledge that you have gained,” she said.  Similar exercises are planned for other villages in the respective regions.

Since taking up her ministerial portfolio, Minister Garrido-Lowe has embarked on a journey towards bringing about positive changes in the lives of the nation’s indigenous youth and women, making them independent, which is proving to be life-changing, the ministry said.
One week prior to the Aishalton event, several youths from Mora, a satellite village of Santa Rosa, in the Moruca sub-region, benefitted from training in leather work through the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs HEYS Department, where they learned to make shoulder bags, purses, wallets and male pouches.

They plan to have their first sale on Republic Day at the Kumaka Waterfront where Market Day is held every Saturday, the ministry said. This commitment by the minister will ensure more youths become independent and move towards leading productive and rewarding lives, the government agency noted.