Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE)
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SHE is a non-profit social venture building a social business in Rwanda that designs & delivers affordable menstrual pads. We're a non-profit social venture that invests in people and ideas that are typically overlooked (and often taboo) as vehicles of social and economic change.
Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE)
5y ago
‘The host of the celebrationWelcome back to our annual coverage of Menstrual Hygiene Day! *Woo* *Woo* *Cheers* Yes, yes we are thrilled too. We have exciting news. This year SHE built a brand new girl’s room and we want to tell you all about it.
Let’s Get Into It!
For the first time, SHE partnered with Rwanda’s Ministry of Health to help promote their new national health campaign. The campaign is a pillar of support that focused on improving menstrual hygiene in schools through action and ending the stigma surrounding menstruation. This year’s theme, “Its time for action”, called for people to ..read more
Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE)
5y ago
As you probably know, SHE is shaking up the pad industry in Rwanda by making menstrual pads in part from banana fiber. BUT the Philippines have also found innovative ways to use our fiber cousin, the ABACA plant. SHE’s technical guru, Leah, headed there for two weeks to see exactly what the Philippines were up to and here is what she found!
Why is the Philippines the #1 exporter of abaca fiber?
If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering why people even farm abaca fiber… well it turns out that abaca fiber has a long history of being used to make paper and rope due to its fiber stre ..read more
Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE)
5y ago
Meet our intern, Ariana Agyemang.
I am currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biological Anthropology at Binghamton University. My parents are Ghanaian immigrants who came to the United States seeking a better future for their children. As a child, my mother told her stories about the sick and poor who do not receive adequate care. As a result, this sparked an interest in global affairs and international health. I am interested in public health, environmental effects, and the social gradient of health. I want to be able to explain why preventable diseases have the opportunit ..read more
Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE)
5y ago
The go! pads and banana fiber were front and center at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. SHE was honored to speak during the Global Sustainable Technology & Innovation Conference, or G-STIC Forum, besides UN Women, VITO, and technology and innovation from around the world. This year’s forum focused on showcasing market-ready, innovative integrated tech solutions that will help make the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) a reality worldwide. SHE Director of Strategy, Connie Lewin, spoke on the role of women behind the innovation process.
Connie shared SHE’s approach ..read more
Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE)
5y ago
Last November, SHE participated in the International Conference for Family Planning (ICFP) in Kigali to join the conversation about sexual and reproductive health (SRH) concerns in Rwanda. Unlike in the U.S. where city and state-funded health clinics have an abundant supply of SRH information, services, and products free of charge to adolescents who need them, this is not the case in Rwanda. According to Article 7 of Rwandan reproductive health law, minors can only benefit from SRH information and services with a parent’s approval. Could you imagine not being able to access important reproduct ..read more
Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE)
5y ago
At SHE, we believe that access to menstrual pads is a basic health necessity. So why are there communities that still lack access to them? Women and girls living in Rwanda’s refugee camps struggle to obtain affordable pads on a daily basis. Income opportunities are sparse within the camps and allocation of this basic necessity is inconsistent.
Donated pads haven’t proven to be sustainable for women and girls who need them most. So we’ve partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Rwanda to launch our Refugee Ambassador Program to provide a solution to this ..read more