By Love to Give
Pictured above: Vuyiswa Ndoyiyana in her home in Kayamandi. Picture: Michael
Middleton
Vuyiswa Ndoyiyana joined Love to Give’s Citizen Connect programme in January this year. While on this programme, she has been working in our vegetable garden and attending a variety of workshops covering Parenting, Book Sharing, Plumbing, Gardening and Health. She signed up for the Micro-MBA course, a small business development course we run with the support of Project Education in Sweden. The Micro-MBA course comprises 8 simple workbooks which are based on what works at grassroots in Micro and Small businesses.
Vuyiswa has a small business sewing traditional dresses and so was a good candidate for the course. When she started the course, it was immediately noticeable that she was battling to see her workbooks and her calculator. We wondered how she was managing to sew with such bad eye sight. Leigh Fourie from Vision in Focus kindly tested her eyes and gave her new glasses. The difference in her sight when she got her new glasses was remarkable.
As part of the business course, we work closely with each participant on their product costings. When we worked with Vuyiswa to establish the cost of her dresses, we discovered that she was selling her dresses below cost. The key problem was that she was paying too much for her fabric. The market in Kayamandi is very price conscious so she knew she wouldn’t sell any dresses if she put her prices up. This was a huge shock to her but she wasn’t defeated. She decided to source fabric directly from the manufacturer in future and also to make some different products. She came to class the following week with a beautifully made traditional Xhosa apron that used cheaper materials and could be made more affordably.
Pictured above: Vuyiswa wearing the first Traditional Xhosa apron she made.
The Micro-MBA class had an outing to Stellenbosch Crafts Alive, a non-profit organisation in Stellenbosch focused on Enterprise Development and Job Creation in the Craft Sector. Crafts Alive support, train and mentor craft producers to become sustainable entrepreneurs. A few of our students brought their crafts with them when we visited Crafts Alive. We were welcomed by their director Anna Kruger and the curator of their gallery, Nana Wagner, who viewed the work they had brought and gave very good advice on quality improvements.
When Nana saw Vuyiswa’s Traditional Xhosa Apron, she was impressed with the quality and design of her work and was very encouraging . Vuyiswa will be able to sell her aprons to Crafts Alive where they will be displayed in their gallery and will reach a wider market.
Pictured above: Members of the Micro-MBA Class at the Crafts Alive Gallery in
Stellenbosch
In addition, Vuyiswa has been invited to do her Citizen Connect work experience in the Crafts Alive Workshop where she will be producing products for their gallery. This may lead to more permanent employment there.
On the three days a week when she is not at Love to Give, Vuyiswa spends her time making, taking orders and selling her skirts and aprons. She now knows how to properly cost her goods and her business is becoming more sustainable. It is very rewarding for the Love to Give team to be able to support our beneficiaries in such tangible ways. We are always very grateful to our generous donors who enable this work.
DONATE NOW
Love to Give is a non-profit organisation and will issue Section 18A tax
certificates for donations received from both individuals and organisations. As a
Public Benefit Organisation, donations are tax-deductible. Thank you for your
interest and your support.
DONATE VIA EFT
Bank: ABSA
Acc. Name: Stellenbosch Community Development Programme
Acc. No: 406 384 1099
Name: Stellenbosch Community Development Programme
Bank: ABSA
Branch Code: 632005
Acc Number: 406 384 1099
SWIFT Code: ABSAZAJJ
Comments