The refugee soap maker from Burundi who is fighting the coronavirus in Kenya

When Innocent Havyarimana started his soap-making business in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya in early 2015, he was trying to overcome the traumatic events that made him flee his native Burundi a year earlier.

Little did he know that his home business would become a major weapon in the fight against coronavirus in one of the largest settlements in the world of this type – Kakuma is home to nearly 200,000 people.

As soon as the former chemistry student realized the importance of hand washing to face the spread of Covid-19, he lowered prices and started offering his products in smaller quantities and sizes, to make them more accessible.

“Everyone needs soap, but not everyone can buy it. So I lowered prices, because it was more important to protect people than to think about profit,” the 35-year-old told the BBC.

“I had to increase my production by 75% to meet demand when the pandemic started, so Covid-19 has been good for my business.

“But I made sure to give free soap to vulnerable people, like the elderly and the disabled.”

Havyarimana’s initiative has been praised by UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, which often highlights the contribution of refugee entrepreneurs to their host communities.

“Refugees are playing a key role in helping to stem the spread of Covid-19 in Kakuma,” Eujin Byun, a UNHCR spokesman in Kenya, told the BBC.

“They helped in many ways, from spreading information about the virus to helping people to take the necessary measures.”

She added that she was not surprised by Havyarimana’s decision to lower prices.

“The refugees are very community-oriented and will take care of each other. They have already helped us to do our job in situations like this.”

Mr. Havyarimana currently employs 42 people in his company, called Glap Industries – short for God Loves All People. Most of the workers are refugees, but 18 are Kenyans from the city of Kakuma.

Glap provides local businesses and institutions outside the camp and even aid agencies.

“The agencies buy my soap operas to distribute to refugees who cannot pay and also to their own team,” observes the Burundian proudly.

Mr. Havyarimana is not the only seller of local soap, but he does not fear competition and, in fact, offers classes to teach people how to make cleaning products.

“I want to mentor women and young people so that they have the opportunity to become self-reliant and improve their lives as I did,” he says.

“I want to help the community in every way I can.”

Efforts like his may have helped keep Covid-19 under control in Kakuma.

The latest UNHCR data, dated December 24, shows that there were 341 confirmed cases with 19 people under medical care. There were 10 deaths from the virus.

Kenya has recorded nearly 100,000 cases across the country, with about 1,700 deaths, according to figures from the Ministry of Health.

Political instability and violence have forced more than 300,000 people to flee Burundi to neighboring African countries in the past decade, according to UNHCR.

Mr. Havyarimana was in the middle of his chemistry studies at the University of Burundi when he left. He says his life is in danger and that he is receiving death threats from relatives of his late mother, who also seized his home.

After arriving in Kakuma, he wanted to earn money for himself, instead of relying on humanitarian aid.

The camp is in an isolated and arid region, where the provision of basic services is a challenge for humanitarian aid agencies.

Exploring the region, Mr. Havyarimana realized that there was no soap factory, which meant that cleaning products had to be brought in from elsewhere.

“I had no idea how to make soap, so I started browsing the web in search of some knowledge”, he explains.

Later, he enrolled in a soap-making course offered by the aid agency of the Lutheran World Federation and, with a loan from a former classmate in Burundi, started the business alongside two helpers.

He also received donations from humanitarian aid agencies, including UNHCR and NGOs such as the African Entrepreneur Collective (AEC), which claims to have supported more than 18,000 refugee entrepreneurs.

“Innocent’s story shows how refugees can contribute to their host communities in a variety of ways,” AEC President Julienne Oyler told the BBC.

“Camps like Kakuma are so isolated that entrepreneurs like him are a lifeline for basic goods and services in an age of blockades and other restrictions.”

A 2018 World Bank study identified more than 2,000 companies in Kakuma and estimated that they contributed more than $ 50 million (£ 37 million) to the local economy each year.

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Michelle Richey, professor of technology and entrepreneurship at Loughborough University in the UK, specializing in refugee ventures, says people like Havyarimana are very important in changing the general perception of refugees.

“The human potential within refugees shows when we give them opportunities to work instead of just focusing on humanitarian issues,” she says.

“We can help these people to have some control over their lives again, after all they’ve been through.”

Starting a thriving business is not the only change in Havyarimana’s life since arriving in Kakuma. In 2017, he married Aline, a Burundian refugee he met in the countryside.

They have two children, and the youngest, Prince, was born in late November.

Mr. Havyarimana speaks fondly about life in Kenya, but dreams of being resettled in Australia or Canada.

“I like Kakuma a lot, but I want to give my wife and children a better life,” he says.

In the meantime, Mr. Havyarimana is focusing on expanding his ways of helping the community and, in addition to offering 21 types of soap and cleaning products, he has developed a hand sanitizer made from aloe vera grown on a flower bed outside his home. workshop.

“Coronavirus has affected the whole world, but for us here in Kakuma, it has become even more important to clean our hands in everything we can,” he says.