Organisation aims to provide cobbler skills to unemployed women in Westbury
Creating a generation of female cobblers.
A non-profit organisation by the name of Footpath Development Trust by Anne Marie has been employing women in our community since the beginning of the year. The organisation aims at providing cobbler skills to unemployed women. A cobbler is a person who repairs shoes.
Since the beginning of the year, facilitators Rebecca Kubatsi and Gloria Mthombeni taught three groups of women at the Coronationville Recreation Centre. A total of 22 women have become qualified cobblers from our community.
In a previous article, Mthombeni mentioned that majority of their sponsors are from overseas and they as sponsors want women in South Africa to become entrepreneurs.
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Previously when asked why the project is focused on women, Mthombeni said that men have more opportunities in our country and that the term ‘cobbler’ is associated with men, therefore they would like to change that mindset.
The finals class of the year received their certificates and a starter kit which has all the necessary supplies and tools for them to start their own businesses.
In repairs the women learn how to fix and replace the sole of the shoes, they learn how to replace the heels of shoes, stitch, add patches, zips, they learn how to crochet, dye fabric on the shoes, beading, whatever else needs to be done on a shoe.
Bessie Myles (62) from Westbury completed the course back in July explained what she has been doing since then, “I have a lot of orders, I have fixed a lot of shoes. I replaced heels, soles, I did stitches and dying of the fabric of the shoes. I fix belts as well and at the moment I have so many orders still.
“In this week I have about fifteen shoes and sandals to repair. I’ve been very busy and I must say that it is really a good programme, it helped me a lot and now it sustains me. I am working on registering my cobbler business next year.”
“When I started, I just thought that it was something I’m going to see how it goes but then I got hooked and since then I’ve been enjoying it. I’d really like to just thank Anne Marie, Gloria and Rebecca for creating this platform for us,” Myles added.
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