Macy's
'We don't want a donation, we want a business.'
Countries: Rwanda, United States
It's hard enough to keep a business afloat these days, much less develop a hit product for one of the largest department store chains in the U.S. But that's exactly what the women of Rwanda are doing with a basket weaving business whose end product is sold in Macy's, reports CBS news.
It certainly isn't your average African aid project. When Terry J. Lundgren, Chairman and CEO of Macy's, first heard about the project from American founder Willa Shalit, he expected to see a charity. What he got instead was a proposal.
"I was prepared to make a donation," he said. "And [Shalit] said, 'no no. We don't want a donation, we want a business.'"
It's precisely this business aspect that makes the project sustainable. Last year, the women sold 40,000 baskets in the U.S., and their income is double the Rwandan national average. (View a photo essay about the weaving process here).
You can learn more about these inspiring women in this video:
Digg
Facebook
Google Buzz
LinkedIn
StumbleUpon
Twitter
Recent comments
on Tom's Shoes succeeds at marketing, but Warby Parker wins for a better anti-poverty model
on 20 tiny strokes of genius: Mercy Corps puts social innovations on display
on How Haiti is fighting poverty by killing cash
on 20 tiny strokes of genius: Mercy Corps puts social innovations on display
on Reinterpreting the Brain Drain