Charity is what comes to mind when I think of helping others. My life experience reinforced this belief with images of children with bloated bellies, requests for Church Building Funds ad infinitum; the annual sale of Girls’ Scout cookies for a cause that was not clear; and the rescue of abandoned animals. These were the things that subconsciously reinforced the belief that to be helpful, I needed to be charitable. The line from being of service to being in business had not yet manifested itself .
In the mid 1990’s while serving as a volunteer with a social investment fund for micro-businesses in South Africa, I learned of Swiss financial instruments that allowed individuals to invest in people-center projects that yielded a return of principal and sometimes even a profit. My world expanded. Who knew that instead of investing in stock I could invest in my values and perhaps be rewarded, on earth. This taught me it was possible for social good to BE one’s business. It was also during this time that the Rwanda genocide happened and provided fertile ground for the creation of what has come to be part of what we now understand as social good relationships. The ten year partnership between Macy’s and the Rwanda women weavers, which this post highlights, was born of these times. It is an example of how an organization can create a pathway to peace and prosperity for social entrepreneurs.
Janet Nkubana on left and Patricia A. Patton on right
Last week I joined a group of supporters at Macy’s Herald Square for the launch of a commemorative Peace basket to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Macy’s Rwanda Path to Peace initiative. These hand woven baskets were created by more than 4,000 Rwandan women and are now being sold in about 30 major outlets nationally. The story of these baskets is a lesson in how trade, not charity, can work for entrepreneurs. If you are someone for whom service to the greater Self is important, then figuring out how this can work for you may be important.
It begins with a sad and gruesome circumstance. In 1994 more than a million people were killed in Rwanda in less than 30 days. You may have seen a depiction of this history in the movie, The Rwandan Hotel. It is hard to fathom this occurrence in modern times in a country where its citizens, Hutus and Tutsis, share one language and basically one culture. But it happened. The genocide left many Rwandan women widowed and fending for themselves and their families in the city’s streets.
Janet Nkubana and Joy Ndungutse
In what way and how can a hand woven basket be a Path to Peace? And because we are talking of social entrepreneurism, it is also fair to ask can I do good and still make money? Understanding is in the answers to these questions. For in understanding the journey of these baskets we see how social good works well when it is done correctly. It also reconfirms that as an entrepreneur, you can do good and make money in your business life.
I talked by telephone to Janet Nkubana for that understanding. She, along with her sister Joy Ndungutse, are at the crux of the Peace baskets journey. Both girls grew up in an Ugandan refugee camp. When they returned to Rwanda, Janet ran a hotel in Kigali, Rwanda. The hotel was an informal place of business for local women weavers who congregated to sell their wares to hotel guests. These two circumstances, and the sister’s entrepreneurial spirit, helped birth a transformative project for everyone concerned.
EVERY BASKET YOU BUY MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN A WOMAN’S LIFE
Transforming the Lives of Ordinary Women
Janet was often disturbed by the havoc created by local women selling baskets to hotel guests. But she also realized that guests were buying these baskets and that trade opportunities were needed. In order to move the women from the front of the hotel, Janet offered to set up a shop in the hotel and to sell their baskets. Plus she promised she would take their baskets to flea markets in the United States when she visited her sister Joy.
Janet met Willa Shalit in the aftermath of 1994. Willa is a social entrepreneur and artist who understood that trade, rather than charity, was the best model for creating sustainability. In a nutshell, she brokered a deal with Teri Lundgren for Macy to sell the baskets. Mr. Lundgren gave his organization’s commitment to sell the Rwanda baskets and Macy’s Rwanda Path to Peace program became one of the first “trade not aid ” programs. This means that all the participants in this collaboration are incentivized to keep this project running.
The Rwanda Path to Peace Model Does Not Negate Profit
Willa is key in this scenario as a social entrepreneur and friend to Gahaya Links, a for-profit handicraft company based on the principle of women economic empowerment through fair-trade that Joy and Janet founded. Willa brought this innovative and sustainable model of doing business with Macy’s to the Rwandan women. According to Janet, “It is the model that should be used in developing counties. It not only gives recipients the finances they need to operate, but it also provides long term hope. In general, opportunity is better than a check because free things don’t last. This way people begin to feel they are part of the solution.”
Take a look at how these baskets are actually made in the video above.Then take a good long moment to learn more about the Gahaya Links organization.
How We Talk About Social Good
Many of us have a long history of social good and do not realize this. Generally speaking, we are more often preoccupied with profit-making for personal purposes because quite frankly, many of us live close to the edge. We don’t think of social good as an activity within our reach when in fact, it really is. Even though we may not have the kind of access that Willa Shalit has, we still have personal power and agency and can choose what we do with our money, either as an investor or as a charitable act.
These baskets are beautifully-made. Every basket you buy makes a difference in a woman’s life. Please think about what is within your power TO DO. At the very least, buy a basket and share this story. Every basket you buy really does make a difference in a woman’s life so please, shop the baskets for the holidays and for your home.
Share this story if you think it will help someone. In that way you can be a part of this transformation. And if you have an additional moment, share in the comments what your experience with social entrepreneurism has been?
Thank you.
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