WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

 

Banana farmers with go! pads in Rwanda.

Changing the economy by investing in women farmers

in Blog  by connie lewin

In Rwanda, rural women farmers are key to the nation’s economy and are responsible for up to 80% of the food production. However, rural women farmers lack access to the education and skills-training needed to boost their incomes.

Our partnership with two women-led banana co-operatives is helping to change that – we trained 600+ farmers to extract banana fiber using our machines. We then buy that fiber, which is then used in our LaunchPads. These farmers are helping to boost girls’ futures, while our business helps to boost their income.

Many of the farmers are mothers too and need access to more affordable menstrual products plus the health education. We could not wait to return to the farmers and give them their own pack of pads, which we couldn’t have made without them!

We also invited them to take part in a menstrual hygiene awareness session, and had 30 farmers and mothers (with a few kids too!) join us. They are excited to learn more about menstruation and menstrual hygiene, and we look forward to sharing more of our health education with them and the other farmers.

Building to Learn

in Blog  by connie lewin

One of the most important things to do when designing a new product is to get as much consumer feedback as possible. That is why we are distributing our latest iteration of our LaunchPads to hundreds of girls and women this quarter. We are gathering product feedback that will inform future iterations of our LaunchPad.

We call this approach “build to learn” to ensure that we prove out the market viability of our product in real-time. Girls’ responses and insights inform our work daily, and it is critical that we establish trust at every step.

Hundreds of girls and women will each receive their own pack of our go! menstrual pads, along with education and guidance to properly manage their menstrual needs. We have already distributed our banana-fiber menstrual pads to teen students at our partner vocational school in Ngoma, and the women farmers that supply us our banana fiber.

Teen students at local vocational school each received their own pack of go! pads to try.

Teen students at local vocational school each received their own pack of go! pads to try.

Understanding girls’ needs and behaviors is also critical to prove out our market viability. Schools are an ideal location to roll-out our go-to-market strategy. We can reach a large population of girls before puberty so they are prepared to manage the changes.

Our work at the school level involves students, teachers, headmasters. Students take part in our menstrual hygiene management awareness sessions, while their teachers will be part of our inaugural training programs.

This fall fifty teachers will learn how to deliver menstrual hygiene and puberty education to girl and boy students.

We are weeks into our large-scale manufacturing and distribution. Stay tuned as we share the results and stories from our first months of operation!

High school senior will hike Mount Kilimanjaro for SHE

in Blog  by connie lewin

 

Bella Wiener is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in June 2015 to raise $50,000 for SHE. Watch her latest interview.

Bella Wiener is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in June 2015 to raise $50,000 for SHE. Watch her latest interview.

Bella Wiener, a high school senior at Bend High School in Bend, OR, is preparing to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in June 2015 to spark awareness for one of the most overlooked, but persistent taboos, that is holding back millions of girls across the world: menstruation.

Bella decided on doing a charity climb for SHE while participating in Brown University’s summer leadership program. I came across SHE and fell in love with the work and ideas. I appreciate how SHE isn’t just providing temporary aid, but rather creating entrepreneurs and creating a much more sustainable solution to the problems that women in sub-Saharan Africa face when trying to receive equal education opportunities.”

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro is nothing new to this 17-year-old. When Bella was in the 5th grade, her mother organized a charity climb up Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money to build an orphanage in Kenya. “I was fortunate enough to travel to Tanzania and climb part way up Mount Kilimanjaro before I had to return to the base because of my young age. Ever since this incredible experience, I have had the desire to return to Kilimanjaro and summit it,” shares Bella.

Bella reached out to SHE about her plans, and our Chief Instigating Officer Elizabeth Scharpf expressed immediate interest in helping Bella achieve her goals.

“Bella is a smart and passionate young person who is a great example of how one person can make a difference. I am so glad she took initiative to increase the awareness, reach, and impact of what we do. $50,000 will help us triple our pad production capacity from 500/pads a day to 1,500 pads/day in Rwanda. Bella’s climb will also allow us to expand and scale globally with our patented technology.”

The official kick-off of Bella’s charity climb took place on October 9th at the Patagonia store. SHE’s Founder and Chief Instigating Officer Elizabeth Scharpf joined Bella at the event.

The Kilimanjaro SHE Climb is a team effort and Bella invites anyone to support her fundraising effort. “The best ways you can support the Kilimanjaro SHE Climb are to join our climb team, donate to me or one of my climbers, or tell your friends about SHE and its mission.”

You can support Bella’s cause and follow Bella’s preparation for her climb on her blog: http://kilimanjarosheclimb.wordpress.com/