Achievement report: November

Internet - Bringing about opportunities

Objective:
Fourth quarter: Coordinate 40 Womens Empowerment workshops per quarter (approximately 3
workshops per week)

SDG: No Poverty, Good Health and Well-being, Quality Education, Gender Equality, decent Work and
Economic Growth, reduced Inequalities, Partnerships for the goals

Summary:
This year, GVI Cape Town went from having five women who participated in our program three days
per week, to up to thirty women, a statistic which indicates the clear success of our program. In
response to the increased interest, our volunteers identified the possibility of greater impact. In
November, the GVI staff and volunteers successfully carried out our first internet lesson, an initiative
which is to continue every Friday moving forward and into the new year.

Report:
Since the beginning of the year, our Womens Empowerment volunteers have invested much time and
effort in empowering the local women in several ways. When GVI partnered up with the local
community center in January, our workshops were attended by around five women per day, three
days a week. During the year, the attendance rate has increased significantly, and some days we have
over 30 women participating in one workshop. This steadily increased interest has created a positive
word of mouth in the community, which has further increased our reach. This was a direct result of
our introduction of computer workshops in March, a workshop where we teach women on how to
use Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Once the women feel confident with their newly gained skills, they
complete a final assessment before they receive a certificate, a useful addition to their CV.

If I wouldnt attend this course I couldnt be where I am today. Because I am now a teacher assistant.
The skills I gained here, opened the doors for me.

Noludwe (woman from our computer workshops)

Noludwes feedback demonstrates that GVIs and the womens hard work is paying off. Noludwe has
now broken the cycle of poverty and becomes a role model for the other women - one of GVI Cape
Towns many success stories.

As the Womens Empowerment workshops have been such an effective tool to empowerment, a new
initiative has started which is focusing on how to utilise the internet. The interest in internet grew
slowly from the informal conversations after the women completed their computer course.
Consequently, GVI decided to conduct a needs analysis with the women to see how great the interest
to use the internet really was, and further, what they wanted to learn. This needs analysis was
conducted through interviews with the women, and the results were overwhelming. Every single
woman surveyed answered yes when asked if they were interested in participating in internet
workshops.
With this guiding our work, GVI Cape Town looked into options on how we could work together with
the community to maintain momentum. Unfortunately, there is no space in the township where the
internet is provided for free, which further supported our research that there was a gap in the
community initiatives offered in Nomzamo. Therefore, the GVI Trust will now play a supporting role
in financing the internet whilst provide a safe learning space where the women can participate in the
lessons and utilise the internet experience of our volunteers.

The internet connects, inspires, teaches and most importantly informs people daily and is essential
for modern business, a platform which the majority of these women have been excluded from. Most
of these women have never touched a computer before and even fewer knows what the internet is
and what opportunities it has on offer. As the need and interest are there, and the benefits it provides
by opening up a space to apply for jobs and connect with new markets, its potential to grow the local
economy is present. As a result, GVI Cape Town successfully carried out its very first internet lesson
trial on the 17th of November, a workshop which will now be part of our weekly routine at Womens
Empowerment.

With this new initiative and many more plans in the making, GVI Cape Town continues to make a
difference by placing volunteers and interns with local partners who are directly connected to the
Sustainable Development Goals developed by the United Nations. These initiatives would not be
possible to effectively empower the women through skills development classes. We are all looking
forward to 2018 and continue to be a part of breaking the cycle of poverty through the current, and
future, initiatives at our Womens Empowerment project outside of Cape Town.

Written by: Linda Zsindely - Long-term Intern