Home » Stories » Sharing Skills for Self-Reliance

Sharing Skills for Self-Reliance

Hlomelikususa - South Africa - Local Economies

The group, which now has 8 members, works on making brushes for industrial road construction sweepers. Deborah, the founding member is on the right.

Big Mama’s Project

She walks with her feet, She talks with her mouth, She works with her hands

For 25 years, Deborah, 54, worked on the factory line at a South African brushware factory producing brooms and other tools for indoor and outdoor cleaning. Frustrated with the low pay and harsh working conditions, one day she made the decision to strike out on her own to make and sell her own brooms in her community.

When Deborah learned about Hlomelikusasa at a cultural event, she informed them that she had skills that she would be happy to teach others. She was also moved by their affirmative chant:

She walks with her feet
She talks with her mouth
She works with her hands

Deborah had long wanted to be part of a group of motivated women working towards self-reliance. Here was an opportunity to do just that. In 2008, with the help of Hlomelikusasa, she started the Embo Brushware Project, now affectionately called “Big Mama’s Project.”

Building Her Business

Since starting the project, she has seen an increase in sales, as Hlomelikusasa buys a number of their brooms, brushes, and mops to sell to other communities in their network. With her growing income, she hopes to construct a bigger house for her family and one day return to school.

Her husband recently suffered a stroke so she has become the main provider of her large household. This includes her 4 children and 4 grandchildren. Fortunately, her grandchildren are going to school, but her adult children never had the opportunity. She has taught brushware skills to two of her children, as well as a daughter-in-law, and they now work alongside her in the group.

In an area with extremely high unemployment, Deborah says she has relished the opportunity to teach other women a marketable skill. The group has also done trainings with Hlomelikusasa in management and technical skills, as well as workshops in HIV and AIDS education. Soon, the group plans to employ five more women.

The Embo Brushware Project is one of 19 income-generation groups supported by Hlomelikusasa. Other groups are working on community gardens, sewing and weaving projects, beadwork, and poultry-raising.