South African women in informal settlements lack access to education and employment opportunities, making them vulnerable to exploitation and poverty. A collaborative narrative inquiry was undertaken to compile the life histories of 16 women, identifying their participation in community building. The process combined popular education and feminist pedagogy. An indigenous multilingual interview model was developed and used with the assistance of translators. Multiple languages and researchers provided a way to control for miscommunication. Analysis of photographs and drawings was another means of strengthening the validity of the data. The life stories collected were used during workshops on community building, entrepreneurship, and women's health and rights, which took place in the context of a volatile community dispute over permanent housing. The dialectic process in which the women exchanged ideas and shared experiences was empowering. The interview model bridged the distance between researcher and research subjects, neutralizing their unequal relationship. The research design, focused on participants' voices, was unique in South African adult education research. The life histories of these community leaders illuminated the experiences of invisible or marginalized groups. Through continuous reflection, the researcher's views, beliefs, and attitudes were challenged and changed. (Contains 25 references.) (SK)