23 Feb 2017

The trio of Ms Sarah Balondi aged 70 as well as her twin sisters, Ms Belina Nlayi and Ms Cheludu Masusi both aged 67 are some of the elders who still have a strong believe on the spirit of self-reliance and this is despite their old age status.

They also have a common believe that being old should not be an excuse to turn out to be a burden to anyone, even the government, hence they have engaged in basket weaving.

Besides monetary benefits after selling their end products, which includes baskets and several other ornamental items, this also gives them a social interaction opportunity, which helps them do away with old age boredom.

Ms Balondi said their partnership dates way back, in addition to the fact that they grew up together under the same roof, they have also been engaged in several social groups and have worked closely at Out of School Training Programme (OSET) at their home village at Makobo.

She said while at OSET, they would sometimes engage in handy activities and eventually they realised their common interest and talent towards basket weaving.

Ms Balondi said at first, each individual would weave alone at her home but later they decided to work as a group.

“The idea to work as a group is cost effective. We get our raw materials such as Mokolwane leaves from Nata village. In this case we save on transport as only one of us goes to buy the materials and this gives us a chance to get more of the raw materials through the saved transportation money,” she said.

Ms Masusi also noted that they weave different items and stock pile them and later sell in bulk, citing that it becomes easier to make better profits.

“Although local individuals support us, we get to make more profits when we sell in bulk at lodges and guest houses, as they prefer to use our end products for ornamental purposes,” she said.

She further said any amount made is deposited into their group savings account and later share the amount equally.

The trio also shared the same sentiments that through the profits they make, they are able to attend to several financial obligations, citing paying up their insurance, which they ordinarily would have done by waiting for their monthly old age pension allowance.

Ms Nlayi said one way that helps them to gain exposure is through open markets day usually organised by Local Enterprise Authority.

She also said they are working closely with relevant stakeholders so as to try their luck with one of the availed government initiatives to see how possible they can benefit and boost their business. BOPA