Like many countries today, South Africa faces systemic gender inequality. Many women not only face discrimination at home, but also struggle to find job opportunities to provide for themselves and their families. This project aimed to empower women by assisting Blue Sky Recycling, a local business in Philippi, Cape Town, to create a women’s recycling cooperative. After conducting interviews with local cooperatives, we developed weekly workshops for the cooperative members to train them on how cooperatives function. Our group found that the key aspects of successful cooperatives are trust between members, open communication, and an understanding of business operations. Cooperatives can empower their members and communities, improving living conditions and alleviating widespread poverty.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Martin, Katherine Grace
• Villafana, Shane Alexander
• Rath, Nicholas Samuel
• White, Charlotte Rose

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-121219-043848

Keyword

• Urban and Environmental Planning

Advisor

• Belz, Melissa

Year

• 2019

Center

• Cape Town, South Africa Project Center - IQP

Sponsor

• Blue Sky Recycling

Date created

• 2019-12-12

Resource type

• Interactive Qualifying Project

Rights statement

• In Copyright