Articles by Jonathan Kalan
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Guest Articles
Tuesday
July 24
2012The Art of ‘Nice,’ Putting ‘Care’ In African Healthcare
What’s the secret to attracting 300 patients a month to a brand new, three-room health clinic in a sprawling industrial area? It might be the free manicure/pedicure women receiver after paying for a full “head-to-toe” checkup, but more likely, it’s the value of Penda. In Swahili, Penda means love, and that’s the key to Penda Health Clinics, a new chain of low-cost health facilities in Kenya that puts “care” at the center of their business model.
- Categories
- Health Care, Social Enterprise
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Wednesday
February 22
2012Social Enterprising: DR Congo’s Untapped Resource?
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the world of Social Entrepreneurship may seem strange bedfellows. One is constantly in the media for its good, the other for bad. One demonstrates economic empowerment, the other an absence thereof. But that’s not what I found on a recent trip there.
- Categories
- Education
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Guest Articles
Monday
January 2
2012Best Ideas of 2011: The Reshaping of Capitalism
As much as I can and often do criticize the Occupy Wall Street movement for its lack of focus, direction, and tangible outcomes - there is something about it that makes me extremely hopeful. Capitalism is slowly undergoing a massive transformation, a call launched by Occupy, and answered by the Social Enterprise Movement.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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Tuesday
September 20
2011With Biochar Stoves, Inyenyeri is a Business Intent on Catching Fire
Eric Reynolds, founder of camping gear giant Marmot and Gore-Tex pioneer, has never shied from big ideas. His latest mission? Making Rwanda the world’s first "carbon-negative" country. His method? A biochar cookstove, a for-profit energy company, and 4 years of serious planning. After spending a few days with him, he may just be onto something big.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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Tuesday
June 28
2011The BoP Project: Focusing on Quality, Not Quantity, in Rwanda Coffee
Over the past ten years, a unique program has been brewing in the Rwandan coffee industry, relying on the international demand for high-quality, specialty coffee (not always "fair trade" certified), and helping increase the income of small coffee farmers in this rapidly growing country.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Monday
May 9
2011The BoP In Pictures: One Entrepreneur’s Story
Angelina Mwenzi is one of a few locals of Silanga Village, which is in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, empowered by Peepoople AB, a Swedish social enterprise that launched a pilot project in Silanga in October. She?s built her own small business out of The Peepoo, a personal, single use toilet that turns human waste into nutrient-rich fertilizer.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment
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Thursday
April 28
2011The BoP In Pictures: One Beekeeper, Many Hives in Kenya
Honey Care Africa has been providing small bee farmers such as Kenyan apiarist Joyce Kavinya Motunga, with opportunities that have the potential to greatly increase their income. Honey Care Africa partners with NGOs to distribute its "Business in a Beehive" package to farmers - providing them a guaranteed price and a stable market for their honey.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education
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Friday
January 7
2011The (BoP) Project: Finding Sustainable Water Solutions
The Grundfos LIFELINK system is certainly no robot, but it is about as high-tech as rural water solutions can get. A single-point water supply system with a submersible pump that is powered entirely by solar panels, the water is pumped to an elevated storage tank, then led by gravity to a tap unit in a small, secure concrete housing structure.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment