Embocraft bids Linda a fond farewell

AFTER serving the greater Upper Highway community through her leadership role at Embocraft, for close on a decade, the beloved Linda Venton officially entered retirement.

She took on the monumental task of leading Embocraft in 2010.

The non-profit organisation had no more than R200 in its bank account and, through her continued hard work, persistence and determination, Embocraft is now flourishing.

“Having the partnership with the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust and Woza Moya on site has just been unreal,” said a proud Linda.

“I felt privileged to be able to upskill and empower members of the communities and to show people that there is no racial divide here as we are all one and need to work together. The interaction with the community and the staff is what I will miss the most,” she said.

While she continued to pour her heart and soul into the organisation over the years, she also gained valuable knowledge while helping those less fortunate.

“I learnt compassion and then being able to help people who have nothing by uplifting them,” said Linda. “The skills courses are so small in the grand scheme of things yet they give the attendees so much pride. Seeing the success stories coming out of here is just so wonderful!”

Part of her retirement package included an elephant interaction in Northern Zululand. ” It was absolutely amazing to get that close to these amazing gentle giants,” she said.

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Her love for nature and the outdoors has also inspired her to complete a birding course and she hopes to travel as much as she can, mainly across South Africa. In six months time she will take up a volunteer position at Embocraft and run its social media and marketing.

“I was going to stay on until I was 70, but I’m 67 now and it’s time. I am excited for retirement but I definitely am excited to help out in all the little ways that I can,” said Linda. “What is nice about being retired is that I can be more involved with my family and help out my grand kids whenever they need me.”

“I would like to thank the trustees, funders and supporters of Embocraft over the years as without them, we wouldn’t have survived. Anthea Jansen is the new manager and coordinator at the NPO and she is doing a marvelous job! I am excited to see it grow from strength to strength,” she said.

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