The longest motorbike ride ever…………..

Dear SHE Supporters,

Sylvere and I visited potential suppliers of banana fibers in the eastern province of Rwanda in the Mushikiri Sector. We both have never been there before, so when we jumped on the motorbikes, we expected a short ride. Oh gosh! 

Sincerely speaking, this was the longest motorbike ride I have ever taken! We rode a total of 30 km (19 miles) over many hills and were covered in dust by the time we arrived at the co-op.

We were able to meet a number of farmers who are members of the Mushikiri Banana Growers Co-operative Society, which is located in southeast Rwanda in the Kirehe District.

We taught the farmers how to extract the banana fibers, which is the foundation of SHE's menstrual pad, the LaunchPad. While bananas are abundant in the eastern region of Rwanda, banana fiber is not currently sold as a commodity in the market. Our SHE LaunchPad is creating a whole new business for farmers! 

After teaching the farmers the banana fiber extraction process, they agreed to provide us samples of banana fiber they will extract on their own within 2 weeks to prove their rate of seriousness, interest, and willingness to become one of SHE’s suppliers.

Despite the stressful ride to Mushikiri, Sylvere and I enjoyed our trip and ate some bananas on our way back to Kigali.

Thank you

Juliet.B

Banana Buffet!

February 17, 2010
Kayonza, Rwanda



So folks, hope you are back to non Red-black wear, if there is anyone out there who did not receive a ‘Happy Valentines message’, that does not mean you are not loved, it has come late, but SHE loves you!

Last week on Friday I went on a Banana fiber (SHE Raw materials) hunting trip.
So a friend of mine, conversant with the Eastern region-Rwanda, an area with the largest banana growing population, traveled with me, to show me around the land of bananas, you will not believe the amount of stems thrown around and the sizes of the plantations.

We visited one farmer, who has acres of land with bananas, and surrounded by another 5-6 farmers of the same, they were all interested in hearing what we need the banana stems for and how possibly these stems can amazingly produce great hygiene products like sanitary pads.

I took time to show them the extraction process, I was even promised extracted samples which I will go to see in the next one week.

I came back with a bunch of banana, in case anyone wants to join me for a banana buffet!

So this morning, Fatima (our M&E expert) and I had a session of brainstorming over the chain of supply and distribution.

Do not go away; watch out for our brilliant brainstorming reporting on ‘Raw materials supply-production and distribution’

Julian