Agua Blanca Organic Shampoo Project
Donation protected
Project Description
The community of Agua Blanca, Ecuador proposes to establish a cooperative that collects and processes the nut of the Barbasco tree (Barbasco Bonellia sprucei (previously Jacquinia sprucei) into an organic shampoo for sale locally and regionally.
Goal and Purpose of the Project
In the mountainous valleys of the coastal plains of Ecuador, the Barbasco tree grows naturally. For milennia, indigenous people have used the nut of the Barbasco tree (Barbasco Bonellia sprucei (previously Jacquinia sprucei) to make a natural detergent.
In the village of Agua Blanca, the modern-day descendants of the Manteño people (the local indigenous culture that were encountered here by the Spanish in the mid 1500s) collect the Barbasco nut and use it as detergent for washing clothes and as soap for general cleaning.
The community is located in the heart of the Machalilla National Park - a natural reserve of 750 square kilometres where the soap nut tree grows in abundance.
Purpose: The community proposes to create a cooperative business whereby Barbasco nuts will be collected and then processed into a shampoo and soap for sale to community members, tourists, and regional inhabitants.
Goal: The community proposes to renovate a building in the community of Agua Blanca, that is currently underused, for use by this business and where the soap nuts will be stored, cleaned, processed and packaged.
The business will create employment for up to 10 people (supporting up to 10 families) of men and women and children.
We propose that a team of men will be responsible for collecting nuts and a team of women will process and package the stored nuts year round. There is a large population of community members under the age of 25 and employment opportunities will be focused on this group.
Agua Blanca is a Comuna - it operates as a legally-defined collective within the constitution of Ecuador. All employees of the shampoo business (community members) will be paid a salary but the profits of the venture will go to the community for the betterment of the community as a whole. The business will not be owned by an individual and all the profits will not leave the community.
Thus, the goal of the project is create a community-owned business where its employees will work together to understand supply chains, production, marketing and sales. Their success will directly benefit their families, not necessarily just themselves, as just about everyone in Agua Blanca lives with their families.
It will also directly benefit the community, because the profits will go directly to the community government. Those monies will be used to support other community projects such as extending the irrigation system to open new agricultural fields for more families; to extend the community's potable water system; to provide seed/investment money for other community projects.
The community of Agua Blanca has accomplished terrific things with pennies. Imagine what Agua Blanca could do with dollars.
Economic opportunities in the coastal region of Ecuador are limited - especially for the indigenous people of the coast. Despite this, this indigenous community of Agua Blanca has developed a relatively successful community tourism economy where a respectable percentage of its 300 inhabitants are currently employed. As a result of economic conditions in Ecuador and the 2016 earthquake, tourism has made a significant downturn.
Prior to the 1980s, charcoal production was an important local activity with the result that much of the region was stripped bare of mature trees. The establishment of Machalilla National Park reduced that activity but there is still significant illegal cutting of trees for charcoal production. By creating teams of men to go out into the forest to collect Barbasco nuts, they will be economically motivated to preserve, maintain and guard the forest and ensuring the trees are not cut down. That is vitally important in this dry region of Ecuador and vitally important at the global scale to maintain natural diversity in forests.
The community recognizes that a diverse economy contributes to a more stable economic future and branching out from a tourism focus will benefit the community's future.
We are seeking to raise CAD$15,000.00 to be used for to rennovate an existing building to serve as the base for the Barbasco nut business; to purchase the necessary equipment to process the nuts and; to purchase the necessary consumables such as bottles, labels, cartons and related materials to properly package the product.
One third of the funds will be put towards renovation of the building including the purchase of building materials (cement, bricks, electrical, plumbing, counters and surfaces). A second 1/3 of the funds will be used to purchase the machinery to process the Barbasco nuts into soap/detergent. The final 1/3 of the funds will be used to obtain the necessary government permits/licenses; to purchase the consumables necessary to package the shampoo/soap, labels and associated packaging materials.
This money will be used to build a sustainable business that will last long beyond this GoFundMeCampaign. It will create a new business and new hope for long term employment for the youth of Agua Blanca.
Who Am I?
I am Luke Dalla Bona and I live in the community of Agua Blanca where I work as an archaeologist. I am a part of the community and I have started this campaign with the permission of the Agua Blanca community government. It is their project but I am helping with the promotion and GoFundMe part of it. 100% of the funds will be spent in the community of Agua Blanca for this project. I will withdraw the funds and personally present the money to the Agua Blanca community government.
If you have any questions about our campaign, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thanks.
Luke
The community of Agua Blanca, Ecuador proposes to establish a cooperative that collects and processes the nut of the Barbasco tree (Barbasco Bonellia sprucei (previously Jacquinia sprucei) into an organic shampoo for sale locally and regionally.
Goal and Purpose of the Project
In the mountainous valleys of the coastal plains of Ecuador, the Barbasco tree grows naturally. For milennia, indigenous people have used the nut of the Barbasco tree (Barbasco Bonellia sprucei (previously Jacquinia sprucei) to make a natural detergent.
In the village of Agua Blanca, the modern-day descendants of the Manteño people (the local indigenous culture that were encountered here by the Spanish in the mid 1500s) collect the Barbasco nut and use it as detergent for washing clothes and as soap for general cleaning.
The community is located in the heart of the Machalilla National Park - a natural reserve of 750 square kilometres where the soap nut tree grows in abundance.
Purpose: The community proposes to create a cooperative business whereby Barbasco nuts will be collected and then processed into a shampoo and soap for sale to community members, tourists, and regional inhabitants.
Goal: The community proposes to renovate a building in the community of Agua Blanca, that is currently underused, for use by this business and where the soap nuts will be stored, cleaned, processed and packaged.
The business will create employment for up to 10 people (supporting up to 10 families) of men and women and children.
We propose that a team of men will be responsible for collecting nuts and a team of women will process and package the stored nuts year round. There is a large population of community members under the age of 25 and employment opportunities will be focused on this group.
Agua Blanca is a Comuna - it operates as a legally-defined collective within the constitution of Ecuador. All employees of the shampoo business (community members) will be paid a salary but the profits of the venture will go to the community for the betterment of the community as a whole. The business will not be owned by an individual and all the profits will not leave the community.
Thus, the goal of the project is create a community-owned business where its employees will work together to understand supply chains, production, marketing and sales. Their success will directly benefit their families, not necessarily just themselves, as just about everyone in Agua Blanca lives with their families.
It will also directly benefit the community, because the profits will go directly to the community government. Those monies will be used to support other community projects such as extending the irrigation system to open new agricultural fields for more families; to extend the community's potable water system; to provide seed/investment money for other community projects.
The community of Agua Blanca has accomplished terrific things with pennies. Imagine what Agua Blanca could do with dollars.
Economic opportunities in the coastal region of Ecuador are limited - especially for the indigenous people of the coast. Despite this, this indigenous community of Agua Blanca has developed a relatively successful community tourism economy where a respectable percentage of its 300 inhabitants are currently employed. As a result of economic conditions in Ecuador and the 2016 earthquake, tourism has made a significant downturn.
Prior to the 1980s, charcoal production was an important local activity with the result that much of the region was stripped bare of mature trees. The establishment of Machalilla National Park reduced that activity but there is still significant illegal cutting of trees for charcoal production. By creating teams of men to go out into the forest to collect Barbasco nuts, they will be economically motivated to preserve, maintain and guard the forest and ensuring the trees are not cut down. That is vitally important in this dry region of Ecuador and vitally important at the global scale to maintain natural diversity in forests.
The community recognizes that a diverse economy contributes to a more stable economic future and branching out from a tourism focus will benefit the community's future.
We are seeking to raise CAD$15,000.00 to be used for to rennovate an existing building to serve as the base for the Barbasco nut business; to purchase the necessary equipment to process the nuts and; to purchase the necessary consumables such as bottles, labels, cartons and related materials to properly package the product.
One third of the funds will be put towards renovation of the building including the purchase of building materials (cement, bricks, electrical, plumbing, counters and surfaces). A second 1/3 of the funds will be used to purchase the machinery to process the Barbasco nuts into soap/detergent. The final 1/3 of the funds will be used to obtain the necessary government permits/licenses; to purchase the consumables necessary to package the shampoo/soap, labels and associated packaging materials.
This money will be used to build a sustainable business that will last long beyond this GoFundMeCampaign. It will create a new business and new hope for long term employment for the youth of Agua Blanca.
Who Am I?
I am Luke Dalla Bona and I live in the community of Agua Blanca where I work as an archaeologist. I am a part of the community and I have started this campaign with the permission of the Agua Blanca community government. It is their project but I am helping with the promotion and GoFundMe part of it. 100% of the funds will be spent in the community of Agua Blanca for this project. I will withdraw the funds and personally present the money to the Agua Blanca community government.
If you have any questions about our campaign, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thanks.
Luke
Organizer
Archaeology Vacations
Organizer
Sault Ste. Marie East, ON
