An open day at Community House, in Salt River, last week shed some light on a range of products being sold through a crafters’ cooperative there.
The open day, on Thursday October 20, was organised by the Umoja Wamama Crafters Cooperative (UWCC) to mark the 20th anniversary of International Home-Based Workers Day.
The UWCC, which is run by Shirley Gunn, has 22 members, including refugees and asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda. They are women who make handbags, beaded jewellery, children’s toys, cushion covers, aprons, table mats, knitted and crocheted scarves, shawls, cowls, baskets, baby clothes and blankets.
They make the goods from their homes and sell them privately as well as at the UWCC shop at Community House and at the Kirstenbosch Food and Craft market.
According to Ms Gunn, 90% of the revenue made from merchandise sold goes to the crafter while the other 10% goes to the UWCC, which was registered as a primary cooperative with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPRA) in 2015.
“The pandemic has created many home-based workers, though many work for companies who receive the benefits,” said Ms Gunn. “In our case, the women of our organisation have been home-based workers whose livelihoods are from the merchandise they make from home.”
Ms Gunn said they worked in solidarity with a global network, Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO). “We build solidarity with a bigger movement, not only in South Africa but on the continent and the globe.”
Lina Madolo, 75, from Khayelitsha, has been with the UWCC for the past six years. “Working here gave me financial independence where I don’t owe money to anyone,” she said.
The former domestic worker, who specialises in beading and crocheted blankets, said she could afford to have a fence put up around her yard with the money she made.
Howa Mukamana, 45, from the DRC, makes woven baskets from her home in Blikkiesdorp. “It takes a full day to make one basket bag,” she said.
Epiphanie Mukasano, 61, from Rwanda, makes embroidered stuffed animal toys from her home in Goodwood. “It is a good experience doing this type of work,” she said.
The UWCC store is open Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5pm, at 41 Community House, Salt River. Printed or plain cotton fabrics and thread, linen embroidery cloth, felt, tapestry canvas, wool, crocheting yarns and needles, scissors, beads and sewing machines no longer in use will be welcomed by the UWCC. Contact Shirley Gunn at 082 450 9276 or 021 761 3303 for more information.
