These Words Hold True

The following is excerpted from an email to students and alumnae from Drew Gilpin Faust, the current president of Harvard University.

One hundred years ago, Charles William Eliot, the nonpareil of Harvard presidents, began the last of his 40 academic years in office. He remarked that Harvard was a place "to observe keenly, to reason soundly, and to imagine vividly." In this time of financial, political and environmental turmoil these words are ones that should be embraced far beyond the banks of the Charles.

Something Great Is Happening in Rwanda

The dedicated members of the Business Council for Peace (BPeace) have undertaken a super new project in Rwanda to train hair salon professionals. As they state on their blog: "One of the first businesses to emerge when war ends is the business of beauty. Women return to the feminine community gathering in small salons to reconnect and feel good again. Rwanda has been no exception and four of Bpeace's Associates run bustling salons. So busy are these salons, and many others like them across the country, that supply cannot keep up with demand. Indeed despite high unemployment rates among Rwandans, salon workers are often not Rwandan. With no local training available owners must import skilled labor from nearby countries."

BPeace worked with two associates to help pursue their dream of launching The Beauty School of Rwanda, a first of its kind vocational school bringing a future to the youth of Rwanda. This is just the kind of business development that a country like Rwanda needs - it's self-sustaining, it meets a local need, and it is something that never really goes out of fashion even when the fashions change.

Kudos to BPeace for their efforts!