First, I’m so grateful to the Advocacy Project and eHomemakers for the chance to work with their organizations.

I have been thinking about my work in Malaysia and what I would like to accomplish. First, I feel so excited at the opportunity to work with women. Women’s empowerment has been a passion since I was an undergrad and it feels good to know that I am working in this area.

In particular, I am working towards women’s economic freedom and independence. I hope to do this by reinvigorating the Salaam Wanita project. The Salaam Wanita project trains women in making eco baskets. Eco baskets are made from recycled paper and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Then, the idea is to sell these baskets.

I’ve looked at the marketing web site and it looks good. Fortunately, since the project started in 2002, it is not going through the start up process, but still needs some logistical support. That is what I want to provide. I would like to develop some sort of strategy that looks at the following

Who are the baskets marketed for? Who buys them?
Who makes which baskets?
How is the pricing scheme developed?
How are the baskets sold?
Is production efficient?
Which baskets are most popular and what line should be promoted?

I have some experience in business development and will be using those skills as a guide, but this will be a learning experience for me as well. In the fall, I’ll be taking a business development class and it will be interesting to combine this experience with an academic one.

More to come later

ciao
m