By IANS,
New Delhi: An Indian company in Uganda keen to promote hygiene among children is set to create a world record by spreading one lakh pieces of medicated soap on a vast ground.
According to Kiboko Enterprises, the Limca Book of Records is sending a judge from India to view the proposed event July 20.
“Our aim is to give back to the country that gives us so much love and affection,” Kiboko’s representative Rajesh Kalra told IANS over telephone from Kampala.
The company is in talks with the Nelson Mandela Football Ground, one of the biggest in Africa, and two other potential venues in Kampala including a cricket club and a resort.
“We want to create the world’s largest carpet of soaps,” Kalra said.
The company will give away the soaps to children to enhance sanitation, hygiene and good health, he said.
According to official statistics, it is estimated that 75 percent of Uganda’s disease burden is preventable and linked to poor hygiene as well as inadequate sanitation facilities and practices.
The private sector has joined hands with the Ugandan government to provide free soaps for schools in the country.
According to Kalra, the Kiboko initiative has the support of the speaker of the Ugandan parliament, Rebecca A. Kadaga.
Kiboko Enterprises, which has functioned in Uganda for 20 years, deals in a range of areas including electrical, construction, agriculture and general merchandise.
According to Kiboko Executive Director Rukmini Bonthala, the group is targeting an ambitious growth of 60 percent over 2011.