Repurposed Soap Makes its way to Mali

Black soap from Shea Radiance

A non-profit, Clean-the-World, takes old hotel soaps and shampoos from the United States and re-makes them to ship out to underdeveloped countries and people who are too poor to buy soap.  What's your take on this?  Are folks who really need it the ones getting it?  It would seem to be a better use to send the soap to domestic violence shelters in the US rather than send it across the world where they already have the ability and the resources to make soap (and not to mention you can buy it for as cheap as 100CFA which is about 20 cents).  I know that not all families can float that much always but can Clean the World ship re-purposed soap bars to those in need forever?  Maybe I'm missing something.  Some say to rethink using hotels that do not support such a cause.  What do you think?

Sorry it's in Dutch or another language whose alphabet I do not know...but it's a woman talking about her work in Mali and being a soap seller after receiving a loan from CARE.

Here are some links from around the web on soap and shea butter (which can be used to make soap):

• Shea Radiance - a US-based soap/shea butter store I learned more about at the Global Shea conference in 2010. 
• West Africa Trade Hub Shea Alliance
• Global Handwashing Day with UNICEF in Mali
• Another GHD in Mali (neat looking site!)
• Maridee was a volunteer with me in Mali.  She hosted a soap-making training in her village.
• A soap-making project
• Another project!  And a how-to!
• Annie and I visited Siby, a shea butter and soap production center outside of Bamako.