An ethos of sustainability drives foundation
The Magic Bean Foundation is looking for creative ways of providing skills and creating work.
THREE local ladies want to get people working sustainably. Lorraine Evans, Cindy Addis and Shelley Stievenart have set up the Magic Bean Foundation as a way of helping people from underprivileged areas upskill. “Our main focus is mentoring and empowering communities to develop skills to improve and sustain their lives, all the while restoring the planet,” said Evans, the foundation’s chairwoman.
Upskilling is learning new and additional skills so that people are prepared for the ever-changing requirements of employment.
The Magic Bean Foundation works with organisations in the communities to provide trainers for workshops. An example is their work with uMlazi-based, Vimba Indlala Siyephambili (VIS), where they taught locals how to crochet with plastic bags (called plarning). The products made, are sold by the Magic Bean Foundation at flea markets.
“What we aim to do is what we call creative job creation. So it’s all about finding new and different ways to teach people skills so that they can make money and find employment,” Stievenart, Magic Bean’s secretary said.
Their focus on upcycling, which is the reuse of recyclable objects and materials to create higher quality resellable products, forms part of Magic Bean’s passion for saving the planet.
