President Bill Clinton Signs the SHE LaunchPad

We can't believe that it's only been 4 years since SHE was invited to the Clinton Global Initiative, an annual meeting that calls on CEOs, Heads of State, NGOs, and individuals to put their ideas, minds, and resources together to address some of the world's most pressing problems.

SHE rocked CGI in 2009 with President Bill Clinton and he held the LaunchPad on stage! We wanted President Clinton to be reunited with the SHE LaunchPad again and better yet, sign off on SHE and our 2HE28 campaign with his autograph. 

He gladly signed on and debunked taboos by signing our SHE LaunchPad! 

Let's toast to pad production machines in Rwanda!

For those of you who have run the SHE race with us, the journey has been long but you can raise your glasses and let's toast to our pad production machines arriving in Rwanda. We are ready to launch the "LaunchPad!"

Since January 2013, I have been feeling like an expecting mother; from procuring machines to finding shippers to the nearest port of entry to Rwanda and after 2 months of waiting; the machines finally landed a month ago. The excitement, the anxiety, etc, took all  the better of me. Just the sight of the machines drove my passion even deeper.

Julian geeking out with one of our pad production machines!

Now that the machines are settled, our energy is high again with the recruitment and training of the local technicians. Exciting!

In other news, for the past 4 weeks, the Rwanda office has been buzzing with activity from the entire SHE team, well part of the team (SHE is more than just NY and Rwanda office). 

Julian, Jackie, and CeCe 

Cece, Connie and Elizabeth have been hanging out in the Rwanda office immersing themselves in a range of things from creating menstrual health manuals to testing the pad brand to visiting the production sites and pausing for pictures, of course we also made sure we took pictures of the only SHE staff members who loves asking for pictures but not taking them, Connie! 

SHE Team Minus CeCe!

Hurraaayyy!

-Julian, SHE Rwanda COO

The Name Game - be careful what you call it!

Dear SHE Trailblazers, 

We are in the last mile of launching our industrial-scale production, which means that we are in the thick of designing a brand identity of our SHE pads here in Rwanda. While the team has finally decided on our brand (you'll have to wait for the official debut); here is some food for thought.

I and the entire SHE team have been engaging ourselves in determining a brand name for our menstrual pads. 

We tested a variety of our brand name ideas amongst our target consumers - rural schoolgirls - and it was amazing to witness their responses to our name ideas. I'm curious to hear what you would call our pads that were produced with such unique innovation, and no, BananaPads are not an option!

After testing our brand name, I came to notice the importance of brand naming while walking down the street in Kigali. I noticed a shop called the "One Stop Shop Centre." I have never seen a shop like this here and was curious enough to enter, especially because it looked way to small to carry all the things one may need.

When I entered the shop, I walked up and down the aisles and saw that this shop had nothing more in stock that a regular corner shop: from bread to milk to juice and toiletries.  I asked the owner why he called his store a "One Stop Shop Centre," since it does not have everything. He replied that it has "everything that you need', to which I replied, no it doesn't because I cannot buy a mattress from this shop!

My point is often times we just pick names, whether it's for a person or a product, with any consideration of how it will be interpreted by others and what type of impact it will have on the user or the person reading it.

I learned a few lessons, watch out for the names that pop up next.

Julian Ingabire

SHE Rwanda COO

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