My November FLOW Newsletter highlights the solar lamp being developed by the John Ernest Foundation.  This solar lamp, designed to replace kerosene use in poor households, currently retails for $55 in India.  They seek to get it down to $25 by summer 2008 and $15 by summer 2009 in order to make it accessible to an ever-increasing percentage of the 1.7 billion people who don't have access to electricity.

In the meantime, I've been advising an Austin-based church group on entrepreneurial projects for a community they are helping in a Reynosa colonia.  They have helped build about 20 homes in the colonia and, on Nov. 24th, will be holding a "Grand Opening" for a water tower and bath house that they helped build in the community (all projects involve a combination of local labor and Austin labor, all volunteer).  They are now considering businesses to start to provide jobs in the colonia.  At present, many of the people in the colonia consist of poor women and children, left behind as the men cross into the U.S. to get a job here.  Among the businesses they are considering building is a manufacturing plant for the solar lamp described above, to introduce it into the Mexican market.  Let me know if anyone is interested in helping with this project or replicating it elsewhere.

• Importing products from women artisans and entrepreneurs at every level.
• Supporting the development of women-led ecotourism, adventure tourism, and experience tourism enterprises around the world.
• Populating our wiki with women-led businesses and support the women-led business on our wiki.
  
• Training and hiring women to provide on-line services, either as free agents or as entrepreneurial service providers.
• Creating "Women's Empowerment Zones" with world class business environments in nations' that currently lack positive business environments.

Contact us for specific entrance points into these and related projects; we have partners who are active in these and related areas.  The more people that participate in this, the better.