Chapman Students Think Globally with Health 2 Humanity

Last summer, Argyros School sophomore John Cefalu set out on a mission to solve one of the most pressing problems in the developing world – a lack of soap. With the help of other Chapman students, John started a company called Health 2 Humanity, a social enterprise that provide orphans and their communities with soap to help prevent some of the 1.4 million deaths that occur each year from unsanitary conditions.

H2H started to make an impact in economies where the unemployment rate reaches 40 percent. H2H has distributed 4,000 bars of hand and laundry soap in Kenya and Ghana to date, with plans to expand soon into Rwanda and Uganda. The company has built itself into a more socially-active company than popular buy-one-give-one organizations. Instead of simply giving soap to orphans, the company builds sustainable microbusinesses in partnership with the orphans, employing local adults with profits of excess soap sold in villages and keeping orphans supplied with a steady supply of suds.

H2H has hired 12 employees internationally, three of which now have the opportunity to begin their college education due to the opportunities given by H2H. As they are tackling countries with 6.7 million orphans in total, the need for efforts such that those that H2H is pursuing is enormous.

“Chapman has taught us to think globally and recognize the social and economic value in philanthropy, and an international company aimed at healthy living is a direct evolution of that,” said John. “We’re seeing real results and we’re just getting started.”

Now his company is looking to raise funds in an effort to provide 140,000 bars of soap to African orphans.

Health 2 Humanity is looking to more than double the number of orphanages it has here in the U.S., bringing 12 more schools and shelters into the program that already supports seven small communities. In the areas where it is already operating, H2H’s efforts have virtually eliminated skin irritations and rashes, and overall illness is down approximately 25 percent.

“We’re working to make people healthier in the simplest way possible,” said John Cefalu. “Sanitation is one of the largest killers in the world, and offering a quality soap that can be created in local communities is the way to address it.”

John realized the sanitation problem while on a high school charity mission with the Think Kindness Foundation in Kenya. After seeing the strong correlation between poverty and disease firsthand, he identified soap as the basic ingredient that was strongly lacking. After discovering that 1.4 million people die each year from a lack of sanitation, he started mixing soap in his dorm room. H2H was born.

If you would like to become part of this movement, you can visit their IndieGogo campaign or visit their website.