Craft gives hope to locals
The past decade has seen three inspiring craft projects being established and now show good performance and prospects in the Cacadu district. The Rietbron and the Vondelling Craft projects, both located in the rural Karoo, are funded by the Cacadu District Municipality (CDM), and the Bethesda Arts Centre in Nieu-Bethesda is privately funded and owned. All these projects are unique in terms of product offering but all share a common objective: to uplift, train and empower the disadvantaged communities in the area by providing them with a sustainable and viable means of income and skills. The district municipality views these projects as important for poverty alleviation in the current economic downturn and slow growth, especially in areas that depend solely on agriculture for their livelihoods.
Angelic crafts
The Vondelling Optel Craft project, located in the impoverished Vondelling community received R200 000 in 2006 as start up funding from the CDM. In three years since being established, the project has landed 2 export contracts to Norway in the excess of R200 000. One of these export orders was secured as a result of their products being exhibited at the International Trade Fair in Oslo, Norway in August in 2008.
The twelve-member team received basic training on craft production for a marketable product range. The venture has since shown year-on-year success. Craft Partners, the implementation agent working with the enterprise has ensured growth of the business, evaluated access into new markets, as well as provided overall support and human capital development to the team.
The success shown by the Vondelling Optel Craft project has motivated the CDM to replicate the project in Rietbron, as part of its local economic development programme (LED).
Crafts for upliftment
Rietbron, also a town located within a zero skills-base area will also see a number of locals benefit from a CDM funded initiative of a craft enterprise which will also be implemented by Craft Partners.
Craft Partners, a company of craft development specialists, have been contracted by the CDM in February 2008 to facilitate the establishment of a sustainable and viable craft enterprise in Rietbron. A comprehensive training programme that involves introducing the concept of crafting as an entrepreneurial activity for income generation, skills transfer that is linked to appropriate designs and technology, promotion of the craft, as well as forging at least one partnership between the Rietbron craft project and the formal business.
The training the crafters will receive is aimed at empowering them to produce crafts, market, promote and sell their products to the public. The training will also involve key business management skills like budgeting, costing, pricing, bookkeeping and report writing.
A celebration of the arts
Established by Jeni Couzyns in 1999, the Bethesda Arts Centre runs a variety of empowerment and income-generating programmes aimed at changing the lives of the disadvantaged people of Nieu-Bethesda. Although a Mecca for tourists, township conditions in Nieu-Bethesda are harsh, and like many rural communities in the Eastern Cape, education and employment opportunities are almost non-existent. The Arts Centre was established with exactly this in mind, and offers locals an opportunity to break free from generations of deprivation and establish a life for themselves and their families.
At the Arts Centre locals are tutored in the art of drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics and mosaics. The training allows the locals to express themselves creatively in ways they never thought they could. Once training is completed, the studio and all equipment are accessible to local artists to use for their own work. The centre also has an art gallery, which exhibits work by the trained artists. Tours of the centre are offered by tour guides.
