Profiles/Workers’ Stories

Headstrong: Profile of a Headloader in Ahmedabad, India

A leader among headloaders in Ahmedabad’s busy textile market, Shanta Bababahi Bhalerao knows firstand how belonging to the growing...

Domestic Workers: Organizing the Patience Industry

Camarada Albertina Mundlovo is a domestic worker in Maputo, Mozambique. An Indian Ocean port city, Maputo is Mozambique’s largest economic...

Organizando a Indústria da Paciência: Perfil de uma Trabalhadora Doméstica em Maputo, Moçambique

Martha Chen interview with alma mater Connecticut College

Connecticut College interviews two alumnae: Marty Chen, International Coordinator of WIEGO, and her mother, Barbara “Barry” Beach...

Small World, Big Goals: A Home-Based Garment Worker in Delhi

From her Delhi home, Farida-ben embroiders garments for foreign retailers. Denied an education and other options, she has done this work...

Location, Location, Location: The Life of a Refugee Street Barber in Durban, South Africa

Choma Choma Nalushaka made an arduous journey from war-torn Congo to South Africa—then waited years for his family to join him. He has established...

Gaining Ground: The Cooperative Life of a Smallholder in Uganda

With lives and livelihoods governed by so many forces beyond their control, women coffee producers like Jenipher Wettaka know it takes more...

God is My Alarm Clock: A Brazilian Waste Picker’s Story

The story of an informal worker, Mrs. Maria Brás, who was a tireless force in the struggle of waste pickers in Brazil to overcome persecution...

Impact Stories

These stories illustrate some successes that the WIEGO Network and its partners have achieved in helping informal workers access their rights...

Bogota Recycler Nohra Padilla Praised on World Stage

Introduction:  Nohra Padilla was waste picking on a dump in Colombia by the time she was seven years old. On April 15, 2013, her activism...