Shadi Mogole, left, chairperson of the Thabang Primary School teaches unemployed mothers at the school how to sew, Thabang Primary School, Soweto, 21 January 2020. The women sew school uniforms which are then sold to parents as part of fundraising for the school. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark
In the current climate of gloom, doom and despondency in our country, it gives the soul a little lift to hear about the efforts of a school governing body in Soweto to help alleviate unemployment among the parents of their pupils.
Thabang Primary School in Dobsonville is helping train mothers in sewing skills to produce uniforms for the school, as well as fashion clothing for sale.
The project came about through an agreement between the school and entrepreneur Rayana Edwards, who is the founder of the Sari for Change movement and a member of the Partnership for Possibility, a business-led organisation which aims to find real-world solutions for unemployment and poverty.
Not only has the project given the mothers the ability to put food on the table, it has given them dignity. And therein lies the lesson for the rest of us.
We don’t need mega-projects or massive government handouts to make a real difference in this highly unequal country of ours. We need to share our resources but, much more importantly, our knowledge, so that people can acquire a skill which will stand them in good stead their whole lives.
More than anything else, projects like this help reduce the growing culture of dependency in South Africa.
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