Category: Development

While helping entrepreneurs in South Africa, I discovered the beauty of unfamiliar terrain

Before my experience with the Entrepreneurship and Empowerment in South Africa (EESA) program began, I did everything I could to prepare. I read every article I could find and watched a video of a student from last year’s cohort at least a hundred times. In hindsight, I realized that there was nothing I could have done to prepare for what was ahead of me.

My seven-person team, BuMandla Consultancy, included students from the University of Notre Dame, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the University of the Western Cape. We spent six weeks serving as consultants for our two clients, Kudzai from Kuhle Nails and Beauty and Nomgcobo from Gcogco Clothing Studio.

We began by learning everything about their businesses: marketing, human resources, inventory management, customer experience, bookkeeping, and more. We then identified the most important issues for the businesses and worked to develop and implement solutions to these problems.

Author Julia Flood (far right) with her student consultant team, BuMandla Consultancy, and
Michael Morris (fourth from left), professor of the practice in the Keough School of Global Affairs.

Each day presented new challenges that often seemed impossible: How do we set prices that generate enough profit to sustain the business while remaining affordable for the township community? How do we convince employees to stay when competitors offer higher salaries? How do we ensure our clients understand how to use the bookkeeping spreadsheets we create for them?

The questions never ended, and as these problems arose, I quickly realized that I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. But that was the beauty of it all. The unfamiliar terrain forced us to brainstorm, try, fail, and try again. My team and I tackled these problems, with some of our deliverables being a human resources development workshop, a costing calculator, a plan for downsizing services, employee accountability systems, and marketing campaigns. I was challenged more than I thought possible in those six weeks, but I also experienced more passion, hope, and personal growth than I ever had before. Waking up with purpose each day, working with passionate people, and having an impact on entrepreneurial businesses was so special.

I arrived in Africa with the intention to serve clients, but in reality, they served me, teaching me more than I could have ever learned in a classroom. Kudzai and Nomgcobo showed me what genuine commitment looks like and how passion and a drive to learn are the keys to progress. Before EESA, I viewed entrepreneurship as creating a new, never-seen-before idea, something you might see on Shark Tank. But throughout my time in South Africa, I learned it is much more than that. I now understand that entrepreneurs are people with dreams who pour their whole selves into their businesses. They creatively solve problems and continue onward, maintaining hope regardless of their circumstances and challenges. They question what is around them and choose to push beyond mediocrity. Entrepreneurs chase excellence. Watching Kudzai and Nomgcobo live this out daily taught me how to do the same. I learned to follow their lead, chasing excellence by embracing uncertainty through two key principles: adaptation and vulnerability.

Adaptation is critical
Working with limited resources and funds, we encountered many challenges in executing our goals; we had to adapt. At Kuhle Nails and Beauty, a shattered window and an absence of exterior branding created an unprofessional first impression. Rather than getting the window repaired, we saved money by covering the broken glass with a large Kuhle logo, which improved the business’s appearance and made branding more visible.

Helping a client improve the appearance of her storefront with a new logo.

We also wanted to paint the logo on the wall, a project that required significant adaptation. We hoped to purchase a stencil, but due to high prices and limited time, we had to create one ourselves. We printed the logo on a large paper and then used what was available—a kitchen knife—to cut it out. The painting process proved to be even more difficult. The windy weather broke the thin paper stencil, and we used tape to reassemble it before painting. This branding project exemplifies how EESA helped me develop a “we will figure it out” mindset. Rather than becoming overwhelmed by problems that seem impossible, I know I will figure out a way by thinking creatively, using available resources, and not giving up.

Kudzai, the owner of Kuhle Nails & Beauty, worked with the EESA student team to paint her business logo at one of her salon locations.

The key to growth
During my interview for EESA, Professor Michael Morris described how the greatest sign of an educated person is someone who recognizes what they don’t know. EESA showed me this firsthand and taught me the value of vulnerability through my clients and myself. Nomgcobo was especially hesitant to admit she didn’t understand the intricacies of her business, and her financial systems were practically nonexistent. Once we built our relationship further and she became comfortable opening up, growth was noticeable.

We had discussions and developed systems to help her gain control of her business. I experienced this same growth within myself throughout my work on my team. I leveraged the strengths of my group members to build upon my weaknesses. Admitting what I wasn’t confident with and then diving head-first into it was critical; that is how I learned and grew. Kudzai said it best herself. She gave a speech to her 60 employees during our human resources development workshop and said, “Each one of you is special in their own way. Let’s embrace each other’s strengths and weaknesses and master the art of bringing out the best in each other.”

At the end of EESA, I walked off the plane feeling ready to embrace life’s unpredictable challenges and take on the world. I attribute the transformational growth I experienced to the unfamiliar terrain I charted and eventually became more comfortable in. Stepping outside my comfort zone was the best thing I could have done. I may not have ended poverty or increased my clients’ income by a million dollars, but I empowered Kudzai and Nomgcobo and they empowered me. It was an honor to work with such passionate people who are paving a pathway out of poverty through the power of entrepreneurship.

I am forever grateful for the friendships, knowledge, discomfort, challenges, and victories that EESA provided me. Thank you, Kudzai, Nomgcobo, BuMandla Consultancy, Dr. Morris, Professor Erick Mueller, and Professor Jamie Kraft. Thank you, EESA. And thank you, South Africa. I am so lucky to have met people who made saying goodbye so hard.

Notre Dame sophomore Julia Flood is an economics major who is earning a minor in social entrepreneurship & innovation through the Keough School’s McKenna Center for Human Development and Global Business.

Top photo: The author’s student team, BuMandla Consultancy, at the closing ceremony for the Entrepreneurship and Empowerment in South Africa program, wearing scarves made by their client, Gcogco Clothing Studio.

At the UN, Aiming for a Development That Benefits All

By: Angelina Soriano Nuncio

I am a lawyer by training. I studied law after being inspired by the Model United Nations at my high school in Monterrey, Mexico. In Model UN I discovered the international stage where countries contribute to a joint aim: peace and development. I dreamed of understanding and influencing international systems in order to improve them. 

For that reason, I pursued an unconventional path for a lawyer: a focus on social justice and development issues from the perspective of integral human development, which prioritizes human dignity. Thanks to my experience as a master of global affairs student at Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, this dream has come true.

The Right to Development

I have been working with Prof. Diane Desierto and Ijeoma Oti, a Notre Dame law student, in the preparation of the United Nations’ Draft Convention of the Right to Development. The right to development demands human-centered policies and participatory development processes that enable adequate living standards and full enjoyment of human rights. This convention in particular provides a framework for states to pursue broader development beyond economic growth, as self-determined by their people.

MGA student Angelina Soriano  and Notre Dame Law Student Ijeoma Otti outside the United Nations Office in Geneva.
MGA student Angelina Soriano and Notre Dame Law Student Ijeoma Otti outside the United Nations Office in Geneva.

In March 2021 we attended a meeting with the Expert Group of the Right to Development at the United Nations Office in Geneva, where the draft convention was finalized. We arrived on a sunny Sunday and walked through the city before our full schedule of meetings. Every time I visit a developed country and experience its quiet stability, walk on good-quality roads, and admire its apparently perfect infrastructure, I feel uncomfortable. I cannot stop thinking about the challenges I have seen in other less developed countries, including my native Mexico. My mind often grapples with the complexity behind the world’s inequalities. 

And yet, as much as Geneva seemed close to perfect, I saw a sign on a city bus encouraging people to report gender-based violence—an indicator that violence and oppression are present even in developed countries. The sign also served as a reminder that the work I do, along with my classmates and professors, to overcome disparities is worthwhile. The next day, I saw how our utopian dream could become a reality.

Inviting Diverse Voices

We met with the Expert Group of the Right to Development in one of the buildings of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. It was fascinating to listen to discussions as experts knitted together the concepts and ideas proposed by member states, civil society, and UN agencies. What I enjoyed most was seeing the impact of integrating diverse voices and experiences in decision-making. Diverse backgrounds and regions were represented in the expert group, including proposals from indigenous people. This inclusiveness affirmed my commitment to becoming a development professional who always considers the needs and interests of historically underrepresented populations and brings their voices to decision-making spaces.

A meeting with the UN Expert Group of the Right to Development
MGA student Angelina Soriano and Notre Dame law student Ijeoma Otti with profesor Diane Desierto during a meeting with the UN Expert Group of the Right to Development.

Promoting Human Dignity

The focus of my research and practice has been how development policies and programs uphold human dignity. Through my work with Prof. Desierto on the Convention to the Right to Development, I am learning how international treaties provide a framework for national policies and systems that foster human-centered development. Such development corrects the imbalances of power between elite institutions and the people, especially those living in the most vulnerable conditions. 

But we all know that having an international treaty is not enough. It is important that human rights and integral human development are researched and taught beyond the fields of international development and law. What if professionals in business, social sciences, engineering, and design were taught the principles of human rights? What if professionals from diverse disciplines took responsibility to transform the systems that sustain inequalities and hinder the full development of all people? 

Members of the UN Expert Group of the Right to Development
Members of the UN Expert Group of the Right to Development with Ambassador Zamir Akram (third from right), chair-rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on the Right to Development.

On the same day we were in Geneva, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. I could see how this event posed new diplomatic, humanitarian, and development challenges to the international community. The ominous consequences of this situation—along with parallel situations in Afghanistan and Yemen, among other countries—filled our work with urgency, as the very right to development of millions is hindered every day. 

For now, I am hopeful that next May, UN member states will vote in favor of this convention, which provides a new legal framework that urges governments to ensure adequate standards of living for all. 

Angelina Soriano Nuncio is a master of global affairs student in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. Originally from Mexico, she holds a bachelor’s degree in law with a concentration in leadership for social development.

Top photo: Master of global affairs student Angelina Soriano Nuncio outside the United Nations Office in Geneva, housed at the historic Palais des Nations.