In a lot of ways it's changed the way I live. I wasn't working when I first came back from South Africa but I had seen how women in Mpophomeni worked in groups, sharing with each other, forming co-ops. When I got a job in the Volex electrical assembly plant in Lancashire, my little group started to work like that – the weakest person was supported and protected by the rest of the group.

Our ‘cell’ worked where others fell apart. Management had said the weakest in the group had to be wheedled out by the rest of us. If there were any complaints we had to report to a person outside the cell and they would act on this. We decided we would not get rid of our weakest worker and each of us would work on the job on our strengths, then all work together at the end of the day to complete the work. When one had a complaint against another we would all down tools and resolve the problem together. During our workday, we would all share our hopes, dreams and worries including family problems. We worked together and laughed and cried together just like friends in South Africa in the various co-ops. Management could not fathom how we had such high performance records with no disputes for them. We triumphed where others failed.