Giving Compass' Take:

• The Greater Cape Town Water Fund, sponsored by Coca-Cola, is a clean water initiative that empowers young women by giving them jobs clearing invasive plants to protect water resources. 

•  How can women leverage their work experience from this initiative to enhance their entrepreneurial skills toward complete self-sufficiency?

•  Read this list of four powerful African women that you need to know. 

At 23 years old, Nicalo Titus had hopes that she would be her family’s breadwinner. Instead, her elderly father had to clean their neighbours’ yards to make ends meet while she, like more than 50% of young people in South Africa, struggled to find employment.

She was sceptical when a friend suggested registering her name on the City of Cape Town’s job seekers’ programme. But it ended up being the beginning of the life she has always wanted for herself; one where she is financially independent and where her job prospects lead to growth.

Nicalo is one of 11 women from communities around Cape Town whose lives were transformed by Coca-Cola Foundation’s initial investment of $300,000 in the Greater Cape Town Water Fund. The project clears invasive plants on the Atlantis, which protects scarce water resources in the city.

The Greater Cape Town Water Fund also empowers young women by giving them jobs and then empowering them with leadership and business skills, which Nicalo and three other team leaders — Liezel Williams (30), Sheree Adonis (20), and Brumilda Cloete (31) — will put to use when they register their businesses in the near future.

The women hired to work in the Greater Cape Town Water Fund don’t need to have experience in invasive plant control. They are trained in aspects of the job, from identifying invasive plants and the best practises for removing them to first aid training and other skills, like people and conflict resolution skills for team leaders.

Read the full article about clean water initiative by Lerato Mogoatlhe at Global Citizen