Wishing You A Soapy Christmas

“And so this is Christmas, and what have you done?”  Since Sustainability Consult was set up in 2008, we have made a Christmas donation each year to a project promoting sustainability and working to enhance human development in developing countries.  We were very happy to lend our support to Pump Aid in 2008 and Solar Aid in 2009.  And very excited to announce the Seaweed Center in Zanzibar, Tanzania as our 2010 Christmas Charity. 

This support is not just for Christmas.  Right now, we’re providing the funds for a ‘cow car’, a cow and wagon plus feed for the cow so that seaweed can be moved more efficiently from the beach to the production facility and to take some of the physical strain off the workers. But at a recent fundraiser for the Seaweed Center, we announced our commitment to the project and our intention to offer pro-bono media relations and communications support, as well as sustainability advice to the project.

Zanzibar’s economy depends heavily on a well-functioning seaweed sector as 20% of its export revenues come from the export of dried seaweed to the international cosmetics market.  The Seaweed Center Zanzibar is helping 450 female seaweed workers in the village of Paje improve their quality of life.  Assistance is provided to make the harvesting and drying of seaweed more efficient and added-value products like seaweed soap are being produced.

We believe that the Seaweed Center’s holistic and integrated sustainability approach and its emphasis on women-driven development will help reduce gender inequalities and generate long-term sustainable development in Zanzibar.  By giving people the tools to create their own development instead of dependent on aid handouts, the development is more sustainable. 

We are grateful to the Masters students at the School of Intellectual Capital Management (ICM) at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden for giving us the opportunity to participate in this wonderful project.