Women + Income= Benefits for All

Eastern Province, Rwanda
March 19, 2009


Numerous studies provide data on why assisting women in generating income benefits the community at large, but actually meeting the women behind those statistics is the best part of my job. Last week I had the opportunity to visit a banana wine cooperative in the East who we are hoping to work with in procuring banana fibres. The coop goes through 7 to 10 tons of banana trees a week meaning that the part we need for our sanitary pad project is being thrown out. Christine, the president of the Coop understood this as a terrific way for village women to earn more money and as she is already a successful business woman she was concerned about spreading wealth to others in her community. She invited women from her village to come talk to me about the need for low cost sanitary pads and then asked one of her coop members to demonstrate how to extract and prepare banana fibres. She also invited the Chief of Police and the Executive Secretary of the district to come watch and give their support for SHE and banana fibre extraction. What a day!

Hannah

When A Period Ends More Than A Sentence.

"Menstruation matters? Yeah, so let's talk about it."

This phrase, my blogger friends, is not the status quo email in my inbox. But I was more than happy to respond to and meet with Rachel Kauder Nalebuff, author of My Little Red Book, not too long ago. Twenty emails, five phone calls, and one tea at the Tick Tock Diner later, Rachel and I co-wrote the following OpEd that landed on the front page of the Huffington Post on International Women's Day. Check it out if you want to learn about why menstruation matters in the global economy and what you can do about it!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-scharpf-and-rachel-kauder-nalebuff/when-a-period-ends-more-t_b_172862.html

Hannah's Excellent Eastern Adventure

Doing business in Rwanda is certainly an education in linguistics, and I learned this during my visit to the Urugero Women’s Cooperative in Rwamagama yesterday. In hopes of procuring banana fibre for our research in the United States, I went to the East of Rwanda to meet with the women’s cooperative who had been trained in extraction and to try to bargain with them for the price of fibre which had been rapidly increasing as both the banana farmers and the women’s coop realized there was money to be made.

The conversation over the price of fibre switched between a terrible hybrid of French, English and Kinyarwanda. Jokes were made that then had to be passed from one language to the next like some ridiculous form of the telephone game, and business transactions were interpreted over and over again until everyone was confident that their sentiments had been properly articulated to the other party. However, despite the language barriers and the potential for misunderstandings, the interaction was remarkably amiable and everyone ultimately wanted the best for the business. In the end there were smiles all around, and I was presented with a beautiful piece of artwork made from banana leaves which I cherish. The visit was not just a great excuse to get out of Kigali but an opportunity to connect with some of the women whose lives SHE is hoping to have a positive impact on as our business grows.

Hannah

Introducing Hannah Poole, SHE's Rwanda Operations Wizard!

Let's all welcome Hannah Poole back to Rwanda in her new role with SHE. Live from Hannah in Rwanda.....

If an organization was a person, SHE would be that fearless, resourceful, yet open-hearted female entrepreneur who’s intrepid and tenacious attitude gets her where she needs to go as she forges ahead with strategies to bring true meaningful change to the world. We have no SUVs or pretences, rather we use our talent and our spirit to bridge the gap between the women and girls we are passionate about empowering, and those who have the financial means and political power to make it happen. As I undertake my new role in Rwanda, this is the attitude and goal I have so that SHE Rwanda can become a reality.

Last night, having been invited to the British Embassy for cocktails, I felt I truly embodied the SHE spirit. Knowing that the dress was smart casual, I dressed appropriately in a knee-length narrow black skirt topped with a tight long sleeved t-shirt and heels. My hair and make-up done, I finally got around to thinking about how I would make my way up the road to the Embassy. My house is about a 20 minute walk from the main road through a village on an extremely uneven dirt track. In running shoes the terrain in a challenge, in stilettos a ridiculous endeavour.

However, hating to waste money (which would be better spent elsewhere) for just me in a huge taxi, and realizing that there was absolutely no way I could straddle the back of a motorbike-taxi in my skirt, I took up the challenge to walk. And what a spectacle I was! Dressed up and sinking into the dirt with every step of my heel, I teetered up the hill and past the local village houses that line the road. Within minutes I had collected a hundred peculiar looks from the adults, and a posse of children dancing around me, yelling “Umuzungu” (white man) grabbing at my hands, the hem of my skirt and the edge of my t-shirt making each step all the more precarious. But as I made my way up the hill trying to make walking in stilettos on a dirt track in Africa look as natural as possible, despite being ridiculously out of place and inappropriately dressed for my surroundings, I thought to myself that there was no other way I would have rather travelled. My escort of children, and the “bonjours” from the local women helped to remind me who I am really working for and how important it is to be connected to them.

At the top of the hill I stepped into a hotel and with the nod of a doorman suddenly fit in again with my surroundings. I dipped into a hotel bathroom, wiped the sweat from my brow and dirt from my heels and got ready to step into the world of expatriates and diplomats, a strange yet important transition, but one that many people are afraid of making. Stepping out of the car and forming the bridge between the poverty I had just walked through and those who I hoped to inspire to help me empower the women and girls of Rwanda.