A wrench opened the door, but it was what lay beyond the pipes that changed everything. In homes where illness quietly lingered and hygiene was often out of reach, a simple bar of soap became a tool for dignity and hope, proving that small acts can transform an entire community
By Grace Okwisa and Anja Bruschweiler
The wrench felt heavy in her hands the first time she carried it into a stranger’s home. Outside, people stared. Some laughed. A woman plumber was still a rarity, an image that unsettled expectations and invited questions she never asked to answer.
But beyond the leaking pipes and blocked drains, another story was waiting. Inside cramped homes and crowded settlements, she encountered something far more difficult to repair. Children weakened by preventable illnesses. Mothers struggling without basic sanitation. Families trapped in cycles of sickness that returned as reliably as the seasons.
Each door she knocked on revealed a hidden truth, that health often begins with the simplest things. Clean water. Safe sanitation. A bar of soap.
What began as a search for a livelihood would become a journey far greater than she imagined, one that carried her from plumbing pipes to transforming lives, proving that sometimes the smallest tools can spark the biggest change.
“People saw a woman carrying a wrench. I saw families carrying burdens they should never have to bear. If a bar of soap can help keep a child healthy, a mother safe, and a community stronger, then every challenge along the journey has been worth it,” says Ms Nduku
From Pipes to Public Health
As her work expanded, Gloria took on a new role as a sanitation marketer and community outreach officer with FINISH Mondial, a Dutch-led sanitation programme. Inside people’s homes, listening to their concerns, she saw how deeply sanitation challenges affected daily life, especially for women and children.
“Poor sanitation affects everyone, but it hits women and children the hardest,” Gloria explains. “Children fall sick easily, missing school, and sometimes losing their lives. Women suffer in silence, managing menstruation without privacy or avoiding toilets at night out of fear.”
The scale of the problem is significant. In Kenya, poor sanitation drains an estimated Ksh27 billion (USD 324 million) from the economy each year through healthcare costs, lost productivity, and environmental damage. Diarrhoeal disease remains one of the leading killers of children under five.
But despite her efforts to raise awareness, Gloria began to realise that knowledge alone was not enough. Even when families built toilets, illness still persisted. The missing link was often simple. “Even with toilets, if there’s no soap, health risks remain,” she says. “Many people didn’t have easy access to affordable hygiene products. That’s when I saw a practical way to help improve health in the community.”
From Soap to Social Impact
Using her savings and a few basic materials, Gloria took the next step, building on her work in sanitation to start producing soap herself. She began at home, stirring thick mixtures by hand, borrowing space to dry the bars, and selling them door to door.
“I’ve learned that with determination, I can overcome challenges and make a real difference,” she says. Returning to homes she once visited as a plumber is a reminder of that progress. “Seeing families healthier and more aware of hygiene shows that the work is making a real difference. It motivates me to keep going.”
Orders came in slowly at first, and with them came new challenges: managing supplies, keeping track of income and expenses, and figuring out how to grow beyond small, informal sales. “I wasn’t really prepared to run a business,” she says frankly.
Support came through FINISH Mondial, which encouraged her to join an entrepreneurship training programme. There, she learned how to manage her finances, market her products, and organise her work more effectively. “Before the training, I was just guessing,” she admits. “Now I understand my numbers, and I can plan for growth instead of leaving things to chance.”
Today, her soap business has become part of everyday life in several communities. She supplies households, promotes hygiene, and has started training other women who want to earn an income of their own. Her tools have changed, from wrench to soap, but her goal has remained the same: improving health at the household level.
“I’ve learned that with determination, I can overcome challenges and make a real difference,” she says. Returning to homes she once visited as a plumber is a reminder of that progress. “Seeing families healthier and more aware of hygiene shows that the work is making a real difference. It motivates me to keep going.”
She now hopes to expand further, reaching more households, creating jobs, and continuing to improve access to basic hygiene products. Her advice to other women is simple: “Believe in yourself and don’t be afraid to start. Challenges will come, but persistence pays off.”
