Women Micro-Businesses Build a Sanitary Napkin Business with Banana Fibers
March 8, 2011
Where there is a need, there is a business opportunity for a woman to fill.
I always keep my ears tuned in and eyes open wide for unique approaches to micro-business ideas started by women. Here is one that we in the U.S. take for granted.
Eco-Friendly, Women-Centric Approaches Towards Female Sanitation
In honour of International Women’s Day, I’m writing about something that most women take for granted – female hygiene during mensuration. Many women in the developing world can miss up to 50 school or working days per year due to lack of proper feminine hygiene.
To alleviate the problem, (using Banana fibres), in Rwanda a Harvard MBA graduate Elizabeth Scharpf formed the Sustainable Health Enterprise (SHE). The organization then started working with Rwandan women to make sanitary pads made with banana-tree fibers. Since 2009, SHE has also trained 5,000 Rwandan women to set up their own micro-enterprises, creating an industry that is as sustainable as its product. They have …more