Mayange-Nyamabare footbridge inauguration day (Rwanda, Gatsibo District)


CONNECTIONS FOR UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES WORLDWIDE Photo credit: Bridges to Prosperity BUILDING TO EDUCATE: A LEARNING CURVE


“A for-profi t company is easy in comparison,” he says. With the profi ts I earned, I could reinvest them to hire more people to make my company grow. T e only ‘profi t’ in the non-profi t world comes in the form of good will. But, how does one convert good will into making a charity grow? For an entrepreneur like me, this was a totally alien concept, and one of my toughest challenges.” Frantz knew that he couldn’t man this project alone and understood, from experience, how important it was


to hire just the right team for the job. Seeking like-minded people and organizations, he employed founding members Chris Rollins and Zoe Keone Pacciani, who teamed up with the Swiss organization Helvetas, (now HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation), which is recognized worldwide for creating the design and implementation concepts for suspended cable footbridges. Rollins and Pacciani were sent to Nepal to train with Helvetas and learn about cable-suspended bridge technology. T ey also gained project-management skills at the community level, so they could recruit and train local volunteers. With a team and the proper training in progress, Frantz realized he somehow had to convert good will into


fi nancial resources in order to fund and obtain materials for the Blue Nile River project. He turned to his own bank account and his local Rotary Club, in Gloucester Point, Virginia, and later the Rotary Club of Newport News for


WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2012 19


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