tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-784420638050595986.post5312180987047873274..comments2024-03-28T08:45:35.845-04:00Comments on Market based approaches that work, PERIOD.: Silly or sly?Founder; Chief Instigating Officer, Elizabeth Scharpfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16686772789001109507noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-784420638050595986.post-2613079487888203152009-05-23T16:53:17.692-04:002009-05-23T16:53:17.692-04:00I passed along the questions to my brother, who ha...I passed along the questions to my brother, who had this to say:<br /><br />My first thought is, "I'm not surprised this will be an issue."<br /><br />However, they could work with it. I mean, if they do make a profit<br />and do pay taxes, the government will protect them, much like the govt in the US would protect such a small company.<br /><br />Policy-wise, it kinda makes sense from their point of view. African<br />governments have lost a huge amount of power, money, oversight,<br />authority, and legitimacy in the eyes of their citizens because their job as welfare providers has been eliminated by structural adjustment and replaced by largely Western NGOs. Rwanda's stance is to use such policies (something they've been doing for decades - according to many, Rwanda was the last African country to accept any structural adjustment, and even then, it was very minor) to maintain their own power and authority over their citizens. <br /><br />It does make sense from a certain point of view. They just don't want what you get in Kenya:<br />hundreds of thousands of mini-NGOs started and run by naive Western<br />neo-hippies trying to save the world that are completely off the<br />governments map and are doing all sorts of highly questionable and<br />often openly problematic things - like channeling corporate donor<br />money into development projects that completely circumvent the<br />government. Of course, SHE is not one of these groups.<br /><br />So Rwanda might be a good place. Or<br />maybe too much of a pain.Norahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11048204366225901003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-784420638050595986.post-66649864927890441752009-05-21T02:27:28.374-04:002009-05-21T02:27:28.374-04:00I think it is visionary. SHE and the Rwandan gove...I think it is visionary. SHE and the Rwandan government that is. I am delighted to have found your blog, yet I am still intensely interested in understanding more about the construction of this pad. I use rags in the States, and used them when I lived two years in Tanzania. But I've always had access to water. <br />I like your premise, but I hope that you will be able to dedicate a blog more fully to the health risks of rags, and the technicalities of the new alternative.<br /><br />And I am definitely a fan.Alizetihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12338800000652399495noreply@blogger.com