Clean water and soap shouldn't depend on where you were born
Derived from the Swahili word for “ability,” Uwezo is rooted in a simple belief: communities already hold enormous knowledge, strength, and possibility. Our work is to help expand the tools, skills, and resources that make more possible.
Welcome to Uwezo Global Initiative. We are a community development non-profit born in a refugee camp. What began with handmade soap has grown into a broader commitment to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in refugee camps and crisis-affected communities. From teaching practical soap-making skills, to assessing water and sanitation needs, to developing accessible methods communities can use with the resources available to them, Uwezo works alongside people to build lasting capacity.
Our Work
Communities in crisis don't need charity forever — they need tools, skills, and evidence. Everything we do builds one of the three.
ASSESS
WASH field assessments
We document real water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions in crisis-affected areas, like our rapid assessment in Lubumbashi, DRC, so responses target facts, not assumptions.
TRAIN
Community hygiene training
From rural women's groups in Nepal to families in refugee camps, we teach soap-making and hygiene practice, turning a monthly ration into a lifelong skill.
RESEARCH
Accessible methods research
Standard soap production needs supplies camps rarely have. We're developing low-cost methods that work with materials people can actually get.
Our Founder
"I grew up in Nyarugusu refugee camp until I was 15. I know what it means when soap is a luxury."
MAPENZI KINEGE · FOUNDER
MPH IN GLOBAL HEALTH, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
Born near Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo and raised in Tanzania's Nyarugusu Camp, Mapenzi turned lived experience into a public health mission, from teaching soap-making to rural women in Nepal to leading WASH assessments in the DRC.
Our Stories
The people and communities are the heart of Uwezo's work
HYGIENE • TRAINING
Imagine washing yourself, your clothes, and your dishes with one small bar of soap a month
.
In some refugee camps, more than half of households have no access to soap at all. Those that do often receive a single bar per month. Here's why that gap exists, and what it takes to close it.
DRC • ASSESSMENT
Inside our rapid WASH
assessment in Lubumbashi
What we found on the ground in the Democratic Republic of Congo and how it shapes what comes next. see more
NEPAL • TRAINING
How soap-making became an income skill for rural women in Nepal
In Fall 2023, hands-on workshops paired hygiene education with a craft women could carry forward. see more
TANZANIA • OUR STORY
Nyarugusu: the camp where this project began
Our founder spent his first 15 years in Tanzania's Nyarugusu Camp. This is the place, and the gap, that started everything. see more
Our mission is to build the ability of communities in crisis to secure clean water, sanitation, and hygiene for themselves.
Uwezo — Swahili for Ability
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 and crisis-affected communities.
Become part of our story!
Two powerful ways to transform lives: Give a gift or purchase
handmade soap to empower people in crisis-affected communities
Fund ability, not dependency
Your donation accelerates WASH assessments, hygiene training, and research into soap-making methods that work where people actually live. Every dollar builds local capacity.
Soap that funds the mission
Our natural handmade soaps whose proceeds fully fund our programs. Currently restocking; leave your email and we'll tell you the moment they're back.
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.
Get the Uwezo Newsletter
Field updates, research progress, and soap restock announcements; a short, hopeful note from the front lines of WASH.
