Cari Phelps, Founder and Jasmine Mills, previous Shop Manager of Salacia Salts, met during a goodwill trip to India in 2018 and came back with a dedicated effort to help tackle the root causes of poverty.
Together they created Helping Hands Guest Bar Soaps, packaged in reclaimed fabric swatches.
$1 from every bar soap is donated to provide access to safe drinking water, sanitation, hygiene education and a healthy learning environment to children in rural India. In 2022, through the funds we raised thanks to donations and purchases on our Helping Hands bar soap, we donated 14 bikes to help young girls get to school, helping them arrive safely, on time and with energy to learn.
Salacia Salts will match every dollar raised through these bar soaps sold through our website or in our studio and gift shop in Savannah.
Here's how it works:
For $78, a bicycle can be purchased for a school girl. In developing countries, attending school can be a daily struggle for some children. Rural areas of poor countries often have few secondary schools, so it is common for students to travel great distances to attend classes. They may walk several kilometers to school because their families do not have money to send them on buses or other forms of transportation.
If the school is a long walk away, it can be tiring. Moreover, if the child is a girl, the time it takes to get home may make parents anxious about the child’s safety and may stop the child from going to school. A number of parents keep their children at home. Or the child drops out of school: they leave without completing their studies.
These and other barriers to school attendance are the reality for many girls in poor countries.
But now, a program India is helping to change that. The programs are giving girls “pedal power” -- transportation in the form of bicycles. We support Nirmaan Organization and Rotary International by contributing funds to these important programs. Direct donations are encourage too!
A 2014 study found that giving bicycles to teenage girls in India increased their secondary school enrollment by 30 percent. It also helped many of them stay in school long enough to take their final exams.
A cycle can make school-going joyous, more safe, and less tiring and can encourage parents to send girls to school to earn an education and create more self empowerment for a better future for themselves and our world.
Bathroom + Sanitation Project
For every $10,000 raised, a bathroom is built for hundreds of young girls to use, year after year. The bathrooms are clean, secure and modern and a life changing difference in their lives. Most rural school bathrooms do not have doors, consist of sloped concrete floors with a central drain, and due to this condition, many young girls do not drink water throughout the day to avoid using the restroom. For about a week a month, many teen girls choose to skip school altogether to avoid the embarrassment and unsanitary conditions due to their monthly cycle. Through building these bathrooms, we are ensuring more young girls remain in school and continue with their education to help propel them for success in the future.