This past week we had the opportunity to make a batch of Shea Butter Soap. We have a woman who comes here to the orphanage and makes large batches of soap which we use for our widow baskets, sponsorship distributions, for the needs at the orphanage and to sell to others.
Shea butter comes from the nuts of the Shea Tree and is know for its amazing moisturizing properties. You can find numerous skin products that contain Shea Butter. The Shea Tree grows naturally here is Burkina Faso where is called Buerre de Karité (because this is a french speaking country). The people here apply Shea Butter daily because it helps keep skin from drying and cracking. Our babies get a generous slathering after each bath.
We wanted to test a new recipe for our soap that uses more Shea Butter. We wanted less of the other oils used in our soapmaking and more of the good stuff. It is also more cost effective when we produce large quantities. We also wanted to try a different shape and have some fun by using soap stamps.
Welcome to the test kitchen!!
Step One-
Purchase all the ingredients. We went to the market to buy the Shea Butter. You can see in the picture that they form it into small balls and they continually keep it wet so that it won't dry out.
Step Two-
Carefully mix the water and the lye in a bucket. Lye can burn your skin so use extra caution when mixing.
Step Three-
Melt the Shea Butter over low heat. You do not want it to burn.
Step Four-
Mix in your oils and colorant if you are using one. We went natural.
Step Five-
After the ingredients are mixed well, take off the heat and pour contents into bucket. Again, be carefull as you are now working with lye again so you may want twear gloves. We don't have gloves, but we did have a ziplock bag handy.
Step 6-
Add the fragrance last, but stir in quickly because this stuff starts to harden fast.
Step 7-
Now you pour the soap into a mold. Typically our soap is poured into a rectangle made from wood that has been nailed together. This time we decided to try circular soap. We used PVC tubes and lined them with silicone oven liners. Cute shaped molds are not available to us here and not really practical when making a large quantity. We have to get creative with the resources we have.
Step 8-
When the soap goes into the mold you need to tap the mold several times to remove any air bubbles. Then you wait for the oap to harden. You don't want it to get completely hard because it will be difficult to cut and if you want to use a soap stamp it needs to be a little soft. The soap stamps were not bought here either, but brought by the lovely Dawn you see pouring the soap. Dawn stayed here in Yako for a week and brought with her wonderful ideas. Below you can see the finished product.
We still have some tweking to do, but we are happy with the product, how it lathers and leaves the skin soft and clean.
Basic Shea Butter Soap
| Base Ingredients | Grams | Ounces | |
| Coconut Oil | 270 gr. | 9.524 oz. | 30% |
| Palm Oil | 270 gr. | 9.524 oz. | 30% |
| Olive Oil | 270 gr. | 9.524 oz. | 30% |
| Shea Butter | 90 gr. | 3.175 oz. | 10% |
| Distilled Water | 326.07 gr. | 11.502 oz. | |
| Lye | 124.451 gr. | 4.39 oz. |
Fragrance and Colorant are optional
Approaching Cabo is a beautiful sight. There are mountains in the distance and this time of the year everything is very green because of the rainfall. We arrived at the church and the pastor informed us that there was something happening at the hospital so many of the mothers went there.We only had a few mothers waiting for us. We set up chairs and the scale to weigh the babies inside the church and one at a time, they came in. When the third mother came in we could see that the baby not in very good shape. Skin was wrinkled and loose. It hurt our hearts to see this. Then it became evident that the mother was also not well physically. Her breathing was labored and her clothes hung on her tiny, frail frame. We asked Bea to ask her if she had been enough food. We know it is hard for many this time of year because last years growing season did not produce enough crops. They talked for a long time and Bea's eyes got very moist. This is significant becuse the Burkinabe typically do not show much emotion. She explained to us that the woman got sick and her husband left her. She was living with family but they could not help her much with food. She herself was too sick to work. She was going without food and her family could not give her the money for medicine. Her pastor has helped with what he could. With her consent we brought her and her baby back with us to Yako. We told her that we would take her to the hospital and that the baby could stay with us at the orphanage while she received the care she needed. On the way we purchased her a meal, the most food she had eaten in days. It was clear to us that God had us there at just the right time. I don't think this woman or her baby would have survived much longer.
Yesterday we had two food distributions in two different locations. Our pastor who heads up these distributions had to go about 8 hours away to care for his mother who is in the hospital. Ruth left for Ouaga to pick up two girls who will be volunteering at the orphanage for a few months. We had the truck and our motos to get to and from the distributions. In between distributions we got a call that there was a baby about 30 miles away whose mother died and she had nobody to care for her. Mike, one of our baby caregivers and our orphanage manager (who speaks some english) jumped in the truck and went to get her. Timing was crazy. We had no idea how we were going to manage getting to the other distribution. But even though the timing was not convenient, God knew where we needed to be. They picked up this adorable little one day old baby and brought her back. We are not sure if she will stay with us long term because there is still some investigation to be done. When a mother dies there is nobody to feed the baby. Milk is very expensive and families cannot afford it. Many times the babies are left to die. If there is a family member who is capable of caring for the baby and we can help them with milk, then she may be leaving. If we find that there is nobody to care for her then we keep her at the orphanage with the possibility of adoption in her future. Either way, God has a special plan for this precious angel. Mike also got back with thirty minute to spare so we were able to get to the next distribution and deliver grain to families in need.
