Build a Village

I received the following message from NSE's Elizabeth Thibeaudeau today:

Dear Ambassador,

On behalf of Nu Skin Enterprises, I want to inform you about NSE’s latest efforts to make a difference in children’s lives. As you are aware, the Build a Village project from Nu Skin Force for Good Foundation has already begun. This ambitious project has a two-fold goal: the first is to build an actual village in Malawi, Africa; the second goal is to make this village a “living classroom.” Many Malawians will come to live in the village and learn agricultural techniques, house construction, fish farming, and other beneficiary trades. Already, with your help, we have been able to bring sixty acres of arid land under cultivation as a result of the construction of a new dam.

For more information about this project and its success so far, please see the Build a Village video which is now available for online viewing on Maxcast. You can locate this by going to
www.maxcast.com/buildavillage. This video was presented during a speech by Sandie Tillotson, Senior Vice-President of Nu Skin Enterprise in the General Session of the North America Convention October 26, 2006.

These projects could not have been started without your support and participation. I thank you for your help thus far, and request your continued contributions to these projects. Your participation in the Build a Village Project will help ensure the livelihood of Malawi farmers and their families. Nu Skin believes that together, we can make a monumental difference in the lives of people throughout the world.

Technorati Tags: social entrepreneurship, Malawi, Africa, nourish the children, entrepreneurship, hunger, agriculture

powered by performancing firefox

Lost Mind Share?

"Over the past few years, various initiatives have been proposed to equip Third World countries -- especially those in Africa -- with cheap computers. Believers in the concept that computers will solve all the world's ills are behind much of this. . . .

" 'The fact that these people need electricity more than they need a laptop is only part of the problem,' he says. 'The real problem is lost mind share. The people are harmed because these sorts of schemes are sopping up mind-share time of the people who might be doing something actually useful.'

"To summarize, there are only so many hours in the day, and we should not be wasting them on this kind of naïve feel-good showboating. Let's face it: These high-tech gems are a laughable addition to a mud hut. . . ."
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/The100DollarLaptop.aspx

Delivering Commercial Solutions to Social Problems

In what is believed to be the largest study of its kind, MBA students at Harvard Business School recently analyzed the financial returns generated by 110 early-stage companies backed by Investors' Circle, a national network dedicated to early-stage investments in companies that "deliver commercial solutions to social and environmental problems."
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/3774.html