Macy's Partners With Rwandan Widows

In this undated handout photo released by Macy's, Pascasie Mukabuligo, a master weaver, poses for photographer with one of the baskets that was made in Rwanda. When Macy's decided to buy 31,000 baskets from Rwandan widows, the store was swayed in part by the prospect of contributing to a developing economy and in part by the women's tale of suffering during their country's 1994 genocide. (AP Photo/Macy's, Robert Carl) (Robert Carl - AP)

NEW YORK -- When Macy's decided to sell baskets made by Rwandan widows, the store was swayed in part by the prospect of contributing to a developing economy and in part by the women's tale of suffering during their country's 1994 genocide.

But Macy's was clear: This may have been charitable, but it was not charity. Baskets, woven from sisal and sweet grass, are inspected to verify they meet quality requirements and then paid for in cash on the spot. Macy's imported 650 baskets last year in a successful test run, and bought 31,000 more to sell this fall in stores in New York, Atlanta and Chicago and online.

"This is a business partnership," said Ronnie Taffet, vice president for public relations at the store, a unit of Federated Department Stores Inc.

Such partnerships are becoming more common. Matthias Stausberg, manager of media relations at the U.N. Global Compact, says the compact has tried to "make the business case," showing companies how these investments can be profitable and a good alternative to philanthropy.

Lloyd Timberlake, director of communications for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, cited some partnerships with successful results, like Starbucks Corp. and fair-trade coffee growers or DaimlerChrysler AG's investment in Brazilian coconut fiber to use as fill for car headrests.

"It's not going to get very big," he predicted of the Macy's partnership because, unlike the agricultural projects he cited, it wasn't responding to a need, but instead carving out a small niche market.

But Willa Shalit, who started a company to import the baskets for Macy's, has seen the partnership succeed already.

"When you see the child of a weaver, they have shoes, clean clothes, school uniforms, more than one set of clothing," she said.

The money a weaver receives for a typical basket is enough to feed herself for a month. That sum is on average $24, or about one-third of the retail price. Shalit estimates a weaver's income at $4 a day (it takes roughly a week to make a basket), as compared to the average income of $0.56 a day for the country.

Macy's partnership with the Rwandan women grew from perhaps an even more unusual one. The women used the traditional art of basket-making to reach out across ethnic lines after the 100-day genocide, during which at least 500,000 people were killed.

"In practical terms, basket-making is an opportunity for unity, for reconciliation," said Consolee Mukanyiligira, coordinator for the association of genocide widows, known by its French acronym, Avega.

"Nothing like sitting around doing nothing increases trauma," said Mukanyiligira, so Avega encouraged women to weave as a way of healing.