THIN strips of plastic trailed around their feet as a group of 30 women sat learning how to make pot plants from reused plastic packets. This was at the first Magic Bean training seminar in Mount Moriah on Thursday, 11 April.
Co-founder and chairperson of the Magic Bean Foundation (MBF), Lorraine Evans said they usually work in Umlazi and had wanted to reach out to other communities.
“We have taught these ladies the value of learning a skill and working with their hands. Today we taught them how to cut the plastic into ‘plarn’ (thin strips) and how to do a basic crochet stitch, to make a pot planter. These sell for R100 and some ladies can make one in just two hours. We spent a lot of time explaining to the ladies that this is a real initiative that is all set up and its a real way to make money,” said Evans.
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Community health workers, Thandi Nsimbi and Sindisiwe Ndzimande also attended the event to show their support to the community.
“Because Mount Moriah is broad, we need to divide into two groups. One can meet here at the Ward Room, hopefully we can have 30 members in each group. The crochet idea is a good one because most residents here are unemployed. We want more projects like this in the community and would love to see more people coming in to teach skills.
Nsimbi added that beading, sewing and baking would all be useful skills, although she thought MBF’s idea was particularly good because it was cost effective.
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Pete Graham, ward 110 councillor and founder of Singakwazi Aid, a Durban North based NPO that focuses on humanitarian projects, said he has been working in the community for many years and invited MBF to visit the community after seeing their display at La Lucia Mall.
“Unemployment here is so high, the 18 to 35 age group has an employment rate of 70 percent. To teach them skills where we can recycle and create money-making opportunities is absolutely critical. We plan to run another two sessions the next one will be in Kabazela and then we will have an other one back here,” he said.
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