Silly or sly?

Kigali, Rwanda
May 18, 2009

Yes, it is true! The core SHE Team is now reunited as I join Hannah in Rwanda. It's like when Laverne came back from that journey and joined Shirley. Or Ponch and Jon from "CHiPs"....or Sylvester and Tweety...or Bill and Ted! We've banded together again as the SHE Team plans to roll out its pilot to increase access to affordable sanitary pads in Rwanda and beyond!

As we plan, there are a number of decisions to make...including our legal organizational structure which leads me to ask: Is Rwanda going down the yellow brick road to find a pot of gold or a pot of manure with its new structural laws? Right now, Rwanda does not allow NGOs to have income generating activities that cover NGO operational costs. Did the country just not read the latest handbook on sustainability? Or is it that they are being more visionary than others? By driving ventures like us to the for-profit sector, the Rwandan govt aims to increase its tax revenue and wean its way off of development aid. Brilliant, huh?! That is if people follow suit and NGOs don't just flood the market with free products/services, thereby making it uncompetitive for those nascent, tax-paying businesses like SHE!