Unia Speaks

I was born in Bori in South Sudan. I got married during the 1st Anyanya war (1960). I have no education; during those times only the chief’s children could go to school. I had 6 children, but 2 died and I have 5 grand children to look after. I had no income and I could not send them to school.

‘I am proud to be a producer of Lulu Life products, especially because people living far away like to use them. I have used Lulu on my skin since I was a baby. I will now tell you who my Lulu sisters and I are, where we live and what we do.’

Lulu Livelihood Programme

Background

Begun in 2000 during the civil war in Sudan, Lulu Works is a non-profit trust established to provide a source of sustainable income for the rural women of South Sudan. Comprised of 40 women-owned-and operated shea butter processing centers, Lulu Works ensures that the profit from the sale of Lulu Life products returns to the women. Based on the women’s traditional role as ‘the keepers of the tree’ it also provides an incentive to protect the shea butter natural resource.

The Women

Our 800 women producers are often uneducated and have no other access to income. Due to the war, many were displaced and on average support 7 dependants –mostly children of school age. We are often the only breadwinners in the family and live far away from any local market. Since joining Lulu Works, we have improved and increased our diet, can pay school fees and are improving our living conditions.

Area of Operation

‘South Sudan is the size of Texas, but has not a single paved road. In the rural areas where we work, there is no electricity, running water, communications or public transport. As many areas are virtually inaccessible, we usually ask ‘how long’ instead of ‘how far’.

→ South Sudan Key Statistics (cf. attachment “New Sudan Centre for Statistics and evaluation in association with UNICEF 2004 ):

• Population: 8.5 million
• Area: 597,000 sq km
• 21% of the population is under the age of 5
• Lowest access to primary education in the world: net enrolment ratio in primary school is 20%
• Lowest rate of primary school completion worldwide: 2% (which equates to about 3500 children a year finishing primary school out of a 8.5 million population)
• Adult illiteracy: 24% (adult female illiteracy: 88%)
• Mortality of children under 5 years old: 25%
• Proportion of births attended by skilled health staff: 5% (13times less than the level of the rest of Sudan)
• 1 medical doctor per 100,000 people
• General malnutrition among children under 5 years old: 48%
• Gross National Income per capita in South Sudan: $90 US (90% of the population earns less than a dollar a day)
  

You may be surprised how perfectly natural and how high a quality our products are.

Lulu Life Products: Virgin Shea Butter – Distinctly Sudanese

The Vitellaria Nilotica tree (called ‘Lulu’) grows in very remote forests across South Sudan. These forests have been untouched by chemicals or fertilizers as the longest civil war in history precluded any organized agro forestry. As the tree takes 20 years to bear its first fruit, there is a taboo on cutting the tree.

Nilotica Shea butter has a higher oil-than-fat content compared to the Paradoxa variety, making it a soft and pliable butter easily applied in its pure form.

Historically Wild Crafted

Community members collect the nuts and fruit from deep in the forest full of wild animals. For centuries we have regarded the Lulu fruit, pulp and nut oil as a highly nutritious addition to our food.

Although exposed daily to the harsh sun, the women’s beautiful skin is a testimony to Lulu’s moisturizing ability. We anoint new born babies with Lulu and use the oil as a curative ingredient against stomach upsets, pains and many skin ailments. Only recently, scientists have commenced research on the possible healing properties of shea butter.

Handmade

Women use their traditional ‘funduk’ to pound the nuts into a paste. This method has been used for generations and gives a cleaner butter than when using a mechanized grinder. As our processing method requires neither solvents nor deodorizers, it safeguards Lulu’s bioactive components as well its buttery smell.

Virgin Cold Press

Unlike many shea butters, which are extracted using high temperature or chemicals, Lulu Life Shea Butter is cold pressed. Cold-pressed means that, like olive oil, the oil is extracted by pressure. Therefore, the natural moisturizing and bioactive properties remain in the butter.

Rural Quality Control

Our well-trained women clarify and filter the oil in a hygienic manner ensuring that our Shea Butter can be stored without any preservatives for up to two years. Some of the oil is used to make soap for the local market. The bulk is brought to Kenya where another women’s group makes the butter into high quality natural skin care products.