File:The Wot-If Trust, South Africa 1.jpg

English: Matriarchal energy makes magic. To have women and children in one room is to watch love untamed - unfolding. True and pure, guided with stern voices and laughter singing. Women together weave one another into focus. Born leaders, teachers, lovers and lullabies. Women are magic!

Always becoming… We have witnessed women defy the odds as we watch the world ridicule their ideas, abuse their strengths and undermine the value of their care work. According to my latest Wiki search, “Care work is a sub-category of work that includes all tasks that directly involve care processes done in service of others. It is often differentiated from other forms of work because it is considered to be intrinsically motivated, meaning that people are motivated to pursue care work for reasons other than financial compensation.” (Folbre, Nancy (2003). "Caring labor - transcription of a video by Oliver Ressler, recorded in Amherst, USA") .This definition could largely be attributed to also defining, most, women. Angels. Women are always connecting the dots by motivating progression. They are continually learning and teaching themselves and those around them. To do better and be better. We have watched The Wot-If? Trust, led by women, lead other women onto the journey of prosperity using skills development and the concept of self-sustainable economic generation. Through a network of corporate, social, government and civil-society members, Wot-If? Trust has plugged its Enterprise Development Participants into a worldwide web of possibility. Focused on Women’s Empowerment, Greening, Technology, Business and Youth Development, Wot-If? Trust, has a number of ways in addressing gender gaps in niche markets. To give participants access to a broader market and an ability to generate more income, products or services must be of an international standard. Often, we can observe that poor and underdeveloped areas (better known as townships and not peri-urban environments in South Africa) lack the ideal of quality control. The Wot-If? Trust’s Women Empowerment Programme focuses on a Handcraft Project that has enabled fifteen women to earn an average annual income of R500 000. The women do not buy their own knitting and crocheting materials, nor do they work full-time. Women earn more when they create more products, with facilitated sessions inside Father Louis Blondel Centre only on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s from 11:00 – 16:00. In a similar scenario, the Wot-If? Trust enabled “thirty-five women from the Diepsloot Foundation to hand make 12 000 units of teddy cushions for three Big Five Duty Free stores inside three major airports in SA. This Christmas campaign was structured in such a way that travelling customers were offered the Teddy Bear cushion if they spent more than R2000 in the duty free stores. The customer was then given the choice to keep the Teddy Bear cushion or donate it to an underprivileged child in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban.” – (The Wot-If? Trust blog (2016). “Women’s Empowerment through Localised Procurement (SA)”. Through Business Support, The Wot-If? Trust supports 50 SMEs and CBOs. Although the number of businesses and organisations owned by women is less, there is greater potential in the women entrepreneurs. This factor attributes to the desire and dedication to responsibilities and professionalism – an element of care work. It is the women within the Wot-If? Trust team that support and inspire these women entrepreneurs within this programme. The Wot-If? Trust believes so strongly in the power of women owned businesses that it commissioned for the creation of a documentary about successful businesswomen in Diepsloot to enter in the 2016 Mzansi Women’s Film Festival. Another Wot-If? programme which encapsulates women’s way of working is done through greening. One a weekly basis, Father Louis Blondel Centre plays hosts to seventy children who form part of Dr. Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots SA programme. Roots and Shoots teaches children between the ages of 8 – 14 about respecting animals, people and the environment. From running International Save The Frog Day campaigns to Peace and Rhino Day celebrations, young girls and boys are encouraged to participate in conservation activities. Of course, 70% of the Roots and Shoots facilitators in South Africa are women, which is another prime example of care work having a lasting impression on the lives of women and children.

It is not every day where the old and young come together and co-create in a safe community establishment, especially in the township environment. However, every (working) day of the year, The Wot-If? Trust with an 81% staff compliment of women, opens its doors to encourage entrepreneurship, women’s empowerment, greening, technology and youth development. There is power in women coming together. This is but one example of forward thinking and leadership from women. Watch the space as African women are (be)coming!