Sewing project sparks great interest.

The current training course which started the first week of Feb and ran over 10 weeks has now ended with a tremendous success rate. Of the 15 women who started the course, 13 completed the full course. Of those 13 women 9 are attending the small business training as well, which would give them the necessary skills and business knowledge to start their own ventures. Upon doing a random test of the sewing ladies, I found their skill to be excellent. I was impressed by how the students could design something, cut, pin and sew it according to my specifications. All commendation should go to Funiswa, our excellent seamstress and teacher.

We have started beading as well. We intend starting a small business, creating opportunities for the women who attend our classes with outstanding results. Our ultimate aim is to produce keepsakes and gifts for corporates to give their clients. The first of our customers is Bosom Buddies, who hosts a fundraiser in May, for which we are producing the keyrings with the Thembalitsha logo as shown on the picture. This has given us the opportunity to retain another woman, Phatiswa, who will be responsible for the beading aspects of our project, as well as assist Funiswa.

There is so much favour on this project, so much positivity and pleasure in meeting wonderful women who want to learn and be financially independent. There is also many business opportunities on the horizon, which can possibly make this project entirely sustainable, which of course in NGO speak, is like gold dust.

Themba Training Women's Empowerment

Women bear almost all responsibility for meeting basic needs of the family, yet are systematically denied the resources, information and freedom of action they need to fulfil this responsibility.

In our experience, we have found that women are denied access not by political discrimination or isolation, but by circumstance. We get to these circumstances by a combination of a wide array of factors: social, cultural, religious and many more. We believe that although the average South African woman might be aware of her rights, she is simply not empowered enough to speak out.

Women's empowerment is a passion and priority for us at Thembalitsha. We believe that empowering the woman to be financially, physically and emotionally independent is fundamental to her (and by extension the family’s) well-being. It is with this in mind that Themba Training has launched the new sub-project, focusing on the woman, skills training and business training as well as emotional and civil support.

Our sewing training course spans 10 weeks and is combined with the small business training. The first course is coming to an end and has been tremendously successful with full attendance throughout the course. Places for the second course starting in April has already been filled with a waiting list for course 3 already opened.

Workshops on gender equality are being designed and since the emotional welfare of the woman is as important as the physical, we believe that our holistic approach will benefit many women of Crossroads/Khayelitsha.

When women are supported and empowered, all of society benefits.

TT Women's Empowerment business class filled to capacity

Partnering with Bosom Buddies

In a previous blog we mentioned moving into new premises (still at the Mfesane complex) and hoping to work more closely with Bosom Buddies. This has now happened! We are enjoying the new facility and the good news is that we have teamed up with Bosom Buddies and moved all the sewing equipment to Mfesane. In December we appointed Funiswa Siqongana  (a former TT student) to head up the sewing project. Funi has a “dual” role in that she will be producing items for BB, and at the same time training women in sewing. We’re hoping to expand this, and not only equip women to sew, but do it in conjunction with the Micro Business training and equip them to run effective businesses. There has been much interest in the sewing project and I was not surprised to arrive in Crossroads early in February to find a room full of women!

A further dream is to secure contracts with businesses/organisations who will enlist our sewing project to produce items needed by these businesses or for the marketplace. This will enable this project to be self-sustainable and offering a measure of employment

At the end of 2013 we had to say goodbye to our major sponsor – FSAA (Finnish South African Association). For 7 years FSAA supported us financially and in other ways, and obviously it was sad to see this partnership come to an end. We remain grateful for the support and friendship we had with the Finns.

This blog is about Patson Musabayane.

Patson is one of a kind. Not many like him. He is a true entrepreneur and leads the micro business training courses we present at Mfesane in Crossroads, Cape Town.

Patson was born in Zimbabwe, approx. half a century ago (very old!). He became a victim of the crisis that took place in Zimbabwe post 2000 and moved to South Africa in 2007. The Zimbabwean crisis split his family apart, and on top of it he then had to endure the evils of the xenophobic attacks in 2008. This is when he met Adrian Lange and was introduced to Themba Training. Adrian spotted Patson’s gifting and since then he has been the “anchor” trainer in our programme with hundreds of students passing through his classes.

I have had the pleasure of sitting in on some of these classes. They are full of humour. Much interaction. Dramatic. Full of life, lots of action. At times I am confused as to why he addresses certain subjects, but then I notice the response from the audience. He pushes the right buttons. Jokingly he refers to himself as an amaKwirikwiri (the appellation used in the townships to talk about foreigners). He has learnt the local language (Xhosa) but at times uses wrong words, pronunciations. The class finds this funny. We all laugh as they correct him.

“So what about the Somalians?”

“They must go!”

“Oh so you want to chase them away? What about the Nigerians, the Zimbabweans, Congolese, Pakistanis? Will you chase them also? Musa ukwenza. No, don’t chase them away. Observe them, learn from them, and acquire their business and entrepreneurial skills”.

Patson misses Zimbabwe. I see the longing in his eyes when we talk about fishing. Immediately he is transported to the Eastern Highlands. To the Nyanga mountains. Maybe that is why he enjoys taking the students (every weekend) to sell on the Boland farms in the Ceres district.

For 5 years Patson has lived on the premises at Mfesane in Crossorads where we present our classes. Mfesane has been a haven. It is secure. The students come and go. It is very convenient. We have been informed that he has to vacate end of December. Not easy when you are an amaKwirikwiri. We have built this project around Patson, built it around him staying at Mfesane. So it is a challenge. A challenge we will have to overcome.

Patson – a valued Thembalitsha Foundation colleague.

Francois Heunis

Project Manager

On the 14^th of October 28 of our students graduated. This was surely one of the most exciting and colourful graduations in the history of Themba Training. I believe 4 things contributed to the success of this event;

1.         Patson and his students

The interaction between Patson and this group of students, plus between the students themselves has been very encouraging. This group also represented an older age group than most of our previous classes. A number of the students were born in the 1940s and should be preparing for retirement. This is the furthest thing from their minds as they simply cannot afford this luxury. The prospect of finding employment at this age is almost nil, therefore establishing micro businesses is the only way to put bread on the table.

2.         New premises

We held the graduation in the large training room which forms part of the new facility we will be moving into at Mfesane on the 1^st of November. It is a great improvement on anything we’ve ever had in the townships. We will be partnering with Bosom Buddies and use the facility also for other training, with a sewing project (linked to business training) our first new venture.

3.         Visitors from Finland

        23 Students from the University of Aalto in Helsinki (Finland) also joined us on the 14^th. They were visiting South Africa to study projects involved in assisting micro-business owners (entrepreneurs) with special interest in micro-financing. Their presence at the graduation added that “something extra”. To bring even more colour to our event 8 young people from America popped in as part of a general tour visiting the various Thembalitsha projects.

4.          It was difficult to drive around in Crossroads/Philippi with 23 blond Finns visiting various businesses so in the end Patson organised for a number of our students to bring their businesses to Mfesane. We were blessed with a beautiful day and passers-by were surprised to see shops erected overnight outside the training facility. This provided the students from Aalto the opportunity to interact with and interview our students.

2013 has been a year of contrasts for Themba Training. We have enjoyed good news stories, yet at the same time have faced challenges, and had a few sad news stories. Sadly, at the end of August we said goodbye to two of our trainers. 

Malibongwe Nduku joined the Thembalitsha staff more than 5 years ago and has become much loved and respected in the Foundation. For most of this time Mali was involved in our micro business training courses. In 2012 we established the PC training center in Bellville (near main bus/taxi rank) which came under his leadership. We are very proud of what we managed to establish but have not been successful in creating sufficient interest. In the many years Themba Training has been involved in the townships we have literally had hundreds of requests for computer training. However we were not confident establishing such a facility in the areas we operate due to security concerns, therefore the move to Bellville. We offered our courses at very little cost but discovered people were not prepared to travel to attend them. This surprised us as it never surfaced as a potential issue when we did our canvassing. We have had to go back to the drawing board, but due to lack of funds Themba Training is no longer in a position to employ Malibongwe.

Lionel Padayachee joined Themba Training (also as a micro business trainer) in 2009. In 2012 we mandated Lionel to establish a Security Training Academy. We are very proud of the way in which he enrolled for and passed the many courses to obtain full SETA accreditation as a facilitator and monitor. However, the Foundation has not been able to produce a certificate required for us to register as an accredited SASSETA training facility. This has been a tremendously frustrating experience for us. Our objective was that this project would be self-sustaining but as we can no longer provide the necessary financial support we have had to call it a day.

Both these men have become my good friends. I have huge respect for them and pray that wonderful doors will open for both of them. Having to let them go has been a big blow to us.

Our small business training in Crossroads continues. Currently we are running two very successful classes and will share some good news stories next month. We have also obtained new training facilities in Crossroads and are in advanced discussions with some of the other Thembalitsha Projects to present training courses and other services at this venue. So amongst the sad news, there is also good news and much hope.   

Francois Heunis

June News

A large percentage of the people signing up for our micro business training courses list Grade 11 as their highest education achieved. Approximately 30% claim to have passed Matric (Grade 12). However this is not a reliable statistic as we do not request copies of certificates, and simply ask students to complete a form. We have discovered many write down “matric”, meaning they got to matric but never passed it. They are the product of a system which pushes people through the grades, only to come crashing down when attempting to pass the national Grade 12 exam.

It is indeed sad to notice the lack of basic writing skills and mathematical ability with those who supposedly passed Grade 11. It is also interesting to note the obvious difference in basic educational ability between those from countries such as Zimbabwe and Malawi. The majority of the “foreigners” who attend the courses end up as our top students. The lack of the most basic education remains one of our greatest challenges. Often it feels that what we are doing is helping adults who simply will never “catch up” – the damage was done when they were in their early formative years.

At Thembalitsha we are fully convinced that one of the best ways to serve and bless South Africa, is to do something about early childhood development (ECD). Report after report published has identified this as one of the root causes of many of the challenges we face in this nation. The findings paint a very sad picture.  The majority of learners in poor schools start falling behind required literacy and numeracy levels in their first year, and by the time they end the “foundation phase” in grade 3, many have effectively dropped out and will predictably fail to master the curriculum in later years.   This is the main reason why around 50% of children drop out of school before they reach matric.
There are many variables at work, including children’s home circumstances. But a primary reason for education failure in the foundation phase is this: A large proportion of South African teachers can’t teach, and many won’t make the effort required to do so. Most are also agreed that the problem is not just what happens in Foundation Phase teaching or thereafter - BUT IN FACT WHAT HAPPENS BEFORE children arrive at formal school. The formative years – 1-6 are of critical importance. If children are not taught certain things and in certain ways – they will NEVER recover. Traditionally this is where the home played a key role – but many children now spend these years in crèches or playschools.

A number of the women who attend our micro business courses run crèches. Looking after children whilst their parents are at work (or looking for work) can generate reasonable income for many. However most of these brave women have no teaching skills. At Themba Training (together with some of the other Thembalitsha projects) we would like to do something about this and train staff at crèches to different skill levels. So watch this space. By helping the teachers, we will help our children, and therefore bring hope to our nation.