Things are going well with the Business Support Centre (BSC). The location has been finalized, the building designs are ready, and the Indian and Dutch teams are working well together. With Dutch experts, coordinator Marleen Gerlagh and engineer Bram de Vries, prolonging their stay in Varanasi, the development of the BSC is gaining momentum.
Marleen Gerlagh is in Varanasi as a lynchpin between the Indian team and the Dutch experts attached to the sanitary pads business. Dipti is managing the Indian team, with Sadhna as first employee. The Indian team will be expanded in the coming months with staff for sales and marketing, finance and manufacturing. Marleen is ensuring that all activities are conducted according to schedule and that the deadline is reached. Marleen is familiar with both the Dutch and Indian cultures: “I lived in Varanasi for several years and know the area well. I also speak a bit of Hindi, which will certainly help when communicating with the Indian team and the women in the countryside. I’m really looking forward to this challenge!”
Marleen will work closely with engineer Bram de Vries in the coming weeks. Bram also travelled to Varanasi in mid-January and will stay for six weeks so that he can make an effective contribution to the operational side of the organization as well as to the implementation of the sanitary pads production and the BSC. Bram: “We have now purchased our first set of machines for the production of sanitary pads. I’m responsible for installing the machines in a building close to the definitive BSC location so that a pilot production unit can be started as soon as possible. The knowledge and experience acquired during the pilot will be incorporated in the definitive BSC production units.”
