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Cafes and shopping bags - trappings of the western world - are the latest projects for SIFE students to make a difference in the developing world.

Students In Free Enterprise is a global network of university teams which use the power of business to change the lives of others. UWA SI FE teams have a brilliant record, with three consecutive national championships.

The production and sale of jute shopping bags through Spark is designed to empower the women of Calcutta, India, while reducing the environmental burden of even reuseable shopping bags.

Ajay Malhotra, a business student and SI FE UWA 's president, said that ‘green bags', which were made from polypropylene (a plastic made from the refinement of fossil fuels) had to be re-used 171 times to offset their carbon-intensive manufacture. "Our shopping bags are made from environmentally-friendly jute and we are committed to offsetting the emissions associated with bringing them from India to Australia," he said.

"Our partner, Freeset, exists specifically to provide freedom for women from the sex trade, women who were forced into prostitution by drugs or poverty. Our Warrior Women a SIFE success story project is giving them new skills, new confidence and financial independence."

Spark is one of several SI FE projects this year, and the second foray into international ventures. Last year, a SI FE group organised business and driving training for women in Kenya, so they could set up a taxi service.

"Sadly, even after their training, the women were not confident in driving for a living," said Ajay. "But another SI FE group has helped these women set up a café. They have kept the project name, Mama Shujaa , a Swahili phrase meaning ‘warrior woman'.

"The café opened at the end of February. It is in partnership with the Perth charity, BE KIDS, and SI FE UWA is running a micro-financing scheme for the 18 women who are running the café."

SI FE students Bowen Tan and Jiamin Lim recently returned from Nairobi. Over two weeks they finalised the establishment of the business and ran a series of lectures and workshops to improve the women's financial literacy and business know-how.

The next step in the Mama Shujaa project is to replicate the micro-finance model to set up a tailoring business for the Kenyan women.

The SI FE teams run several projects, guided by Associate Professor Doina Olaru and Dr Donella Casperz in Management and Organisations in the UWA Business School.

One of them, Advance , is the longestrunning SI FE project in Australia. It is a suite of education materials covering areas of financial stability, environmental sustainability and health lifestyle habits developed by the students for local communities.

Another, the Balya Project , is helping Indigenous Australians living in remote and rural communities to achieve economic independence through a series of partnerships and mentoring workshops, to help them develop business skills.

"We are working on some really exciting projects that are very closely linked to corporate social responsibility, which is so important for students who will soon be entering the workforce," Ajay said. "Being part of SI FE provides us with skills that are highly valued by employers, as well as the opportunity to create change in a sustainable way."

SI FE teams have corporate sponsors, including UWA, HS BC and CSIRO. They compete nationally and internationally and their projects are judged by CEO s from successful businesses.

Published in UWA News , 16 April 2012