Making a difference through beauty
SANDTON – The Imbalie Training Academy in Woodmead explained how it is making a difference in the community by uplifting women.
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Imbalie Training Academy, an institution which offers courses in the field of beauty and wellness, focuses on empowering women through its programmes.
On 22 July, the academy hosted an event for the media at the Woodmead-based training centre and used it as an opportunity to explain the community work it does. Lisa Leibov of the academy said, “The story of the Social Makeover Project is very interesting.
“There was a group of women in Mitchells Plain with no light in their future. Every day, many wished and hoped that someone would answer their call for a better tomorrow.
“One day a collaborative agreement was reached between the Western Cape Government’s Department of Social Development and the Imbalie Training Academy, and so the project was born.”
She further explained that the aim of this project is to empower and train these women and then offer them jobs. “We want to create jobs, give these women purpose and make them self-sufficient.
“Their faces just lit up when they got their kits and uniforms and they are no longer in an environment where they have no hope.”
Leibov highlighted that the academy has aligned themselves with special needs schools as well. “We offer training programmes for pupils that often battle and do not fit into the [societal] box. We can train these pupils from Grade 11 and they can, therefore, leave school with a qualification.”
She stressed that many doors are often shut in these pupil’s faces and that they have spent a lot of time ensuring that they can provide them with a bright future.
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