Cape Town - UWC Professor Linda de Vries uses her expertise and Lego blocks to teach financial literacy to disadvantaged women across the province.
Women from Khayelitsha, Langa, the Cape Flats, Garies, Lambert’s Bay and Laingsburg are taught how to run effective businesses by De Vries and her team of UWC research students.
De Vries, a professor of entrepreneurship, was in Namaqualand recently to train a group of women on the financial literacy needed to run a business. Using Lego blocks, she illustrates material and cost needed to run a business.
Each Lego block is given a value and description based on its colour. A pack of sugar needed for a bakery business would be a certain colour and rand value. Through this exercise, the women grasp how much they would need to spend on a certain product to run their business.
De Vries said some women didn’t know how to use Lego, but eventually they play and they learn.
“Many women know how to, for example, run a guest house. They know they need sheets and food, but what they don’t understand is how this comes together in running a business.
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“Businesses are killed in this way because they don’t have a long-term view on what the are doing,” said De Vries.
The course also teaches women about the importance of cash flow needed for their business.
“Cash-flow is a key learning component. Then it’s about understanding what money is needed to spend to produce and what is the net profit they can spend on themselves. Important concepts such as feasibility, future projections and the ability to understand their cash-flow position are also taught,” said De Vries.
Liquidity, solvability (being able to pay debt) and profitability are the three main concepts of business De Vries teaches in her course using Lego.
“It’s fascinating to see these women play, while learning about costing and other aspects of financial literacy in a business. It’s wonderful to hear how the training has changed the women’s lives and their attitude towards education.
“There is really nothing as satisfying as this,” said De Vries.
She describes a project in Langa, which has been working with for 15 years, as a huge success. “Mpumi Ngoqo from Langa is one of my favourite case studies who has now become a good friend. She’s been an exceptional project leader - running food gardens, supplying food to TB patients so they can take their medication daily,” said De Vries.
While Ngoqo would teach about food cultivation, De Vries would teach entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
“In the end, we took them to California, and they ended up being runners-up in 2005 in an international entrepreneurship competition,” said De Vries.
Ngoqo said her work was all about empowering the community in Langa.
“Attending Professor De Vries’ course taught me how to be disciplined in a business. Once your business makes money, you shouldn’t spend it on expensive cars but rather invest it in your business.
“It is because of the course that I can run my business so well. People shouldn’t have to live on handouts but should create ways to make money for themselves,” said Ngoqo.
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