About us
How do we uplift and inspire?
Oyana is an impact-driven skincare brand with a mission to empower women in the local communities of Exeter and Kenya. We are committed to providing resources and education to these women and hand-crafting our products to facilitate this goal.
Read our story below to find out more.
Our Story
Oyana was created with the support of Enactus Exeter in 2019 by Natalia Lemańska and her team. Their goal to help alleviate the poverty and lack of welfare of women within the Kwa Murugi slum in Kenya lead them to start a social enterprise to understand their needs, support these women and provide them oppurtunity to grow and uplift others in turn.
Hundreds of hours of research, case studies and product development have culminated into the production of hand-made, all-natural ingredient soaps which have been tested and proven to be safe, good for the skin and the environment. Many teams have been involved in Oyana since then, developing the brand and the cause to where it is today.
Today, we work in partnership with a NGO called The Doxa Project, who represent Oyana in the Kenyan site and assist with outreach and training of these women with the knowledge and resources generated by selling soaps so that they may be able learn the same skills and facilitate a stable form of employment. The soaps which these women make are sold to local businesses and hotels in the area.
Oyana’s soaps have been sold to the Exeter community, within the University of Exeter and in partnership with other organisations. The profits made from soap-making continue to be used to train and provide resources to the women in Kenya today. We hope to carry this social enterprise further with your help and make a greater impact for the women in the Kenyan community so that our cause is embodied through the meaning of Oyana:
“She who uplifts and inspires others”
In partnership with:
Meet the Oyana Team
Lauren Jones
Project Leader
Lauren is a second year Management and English student. She is one of the project leaders, and deals with overall project management, communication, finances, and soap-making.
Zoey Lam
Project Leader
Zoey is a second-year law student at the University of Exeter. She is one of the project leaders of Oyana who is responsible for general project management, community outreach, communication, purchasing and soap-making.
Angel Mulenga
Committee Member
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Fasika Estefanos
Committee Member
Fasika is a second year medical student at the University of Exeter. She is responsible for creating content for the Tiktok and Instagram page alongside Jhanvi.
Jhanvi Torawane
Committee Member
Jhanvi is a final year Politics, Philosophy and Economics student at the University of Exeter. She is mainly involved in managing Oyana’s social media.
Gouri Sankar
Committee Member
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Long Dang
Committee Member
Long is a fresher of University of Exeter, studying Business Analytics. He is working on reaching out to the community and collaboration with partner-organisations.
Adam George
Committee Member
Adam is a 2nd Year Computer Science student at the University of Exeter. He has mainly been involved in the technical development of Oyana, including revamping the website and taking photographs.