Aha, dramatic headlines work then?! … This blog is indeed about soap, and yes multiple uses of soap, is largely the point. Now, imagine you are living in a Ugandan slum, and you are earning approximately $50 a month, so how are you going to cope? And during this Corona crisis, how are you going to stay clean?!
If you’re reading this article from the slum, then you’ll know the answer to this already, and so this article is mostly orientated to people who don’t… Although I think it’s interesting for us all to occasionally reflect on how other people live their lives.. but this isn’t an anthropology essay, this is a blog about soap!!
I’ll get back to the point, AND cut to the chase: If you live in Naguru GoDown slum, next to East Coast Boxing Club, Kampala (Uganda!!), and you want to wash your hands, the dishes, your clothes, you hair, or just yourself generally, there is one big bar of soap you will reach for, and it’s called white star… that’s it, one bar for all those uses. simple!
I found that out yesterday, when I was in the Slum, with my Gloves & Glory coaches, buying food and indeed vital supplies like soap, for those in need during this Corona crisis. Actually my friend Miiro (2018 Commonwealth medalist boxer), told me about this, and obviously I found it super interesting, and decided to write my first ever blog about it!!
What got me, is how this contrasts to the multiple aisles of soap and cleaning products in the supermarkets, many of which do exactly the same thing, but are just branded in different ways… bit bonkers?!
Anyway, here you go, there’s another reason for writing this blog, and it’s to tell you about our new little online shop, where you can buy a bar of soap, for someone in need, for just $0.53.. or you can also buy 1KG of beans for $1.30..
Now, the reason for this online shop, is that in Uganda, lockdown has wrecked livelihoods, and most of the population live hand to mouth every day, with zero savings. We’re just been told lockdown is for another 3 weeks, and I can see people starting to struggle around our boxing club.
So, when you buy an item in our online shop, we buy and deliver the same item on Wednesday & Saturday mornings, and then we update you, mainly on our instagram account, which you can see below….
The vast majority of your donation goes directly to the cause (We only lose the small PayPal transaction fee)
We just added some new products to the shop too… so please have a look here… and buy some “beans for boxers” today! …
Marcus Warry
Founder of Gloves & Glory and undefeated White Collar boxer (only two fights though, and one was a draw, but still…)
P.S. Sorry if you feel you’ve been drawn into this article under entirely false pretences by my dramatic headline. If you would like to know 101 uses for a bar of soap, then please do send me an email (marcus@glovesandglory.org), And I’ll personally address this for you.. and I will indeed make sure that number 67 is the best one (it might involve sculpting the soap, into unusual shapes, that could make you giggle).
Please follow us on Instagram:
For updates about the shop, and and also generally to follow what we’re up to – our big goal is to bring back the glory days of Ugandan Boxing – WOW!!! … and you just clicked on a blog about soap?! Duped or what…