17 Oct 2013

An ongoing sewing workshop in Etsha 6 is expected to bear fruits as the women who have enrolled have said they are already able to design school uniforms and use sewing machines.

Speaking in an interview on Wednesday at the workshop that has been running for a week now, the women, who come from different villages of the Okavango Sub-district, said they were ready to market themselves with the skills they had acquired.

Ms Lorayamang Motsamai of Gudigwa said she had always wanted to learn sewing using a machine, but did not have the funds to buy one. She thanked the North West District Council (NWDC) for such a programme, which had bought her a sewing machine.

Ms Motsamai urged other women to take advantage of the government programmes so that they would not be dependent on the government. She said she had learnt how to design uniforms and when she returns to Gudigwa, she is certain that she will have market for her products.

Furthermore, she said people will no longer have to go far for designs during celebrations like weddings as she will be available. Another beneficiary of the programme, Ms Thiruze Moyo, who hails from Kauxwi, also said the programme has been an eye-opener for her as she never thought she will see herself using a sewing machine.

She said it was an opportunity that had really been availed for women in the Okavango area, adding that it served as a ground to empower women. The senior social worker at the NWDC, Ms Akanyang Tshomane said the women who attended the workshop were already funded through the poverty programme.

She said they engaged an expert to further their knowledge as they all had been trained before at the Maun Technical College for three months.   Ms Tshomane said they noticed that there were areas where there were still lacking and then engaged someone to polish them. The workshop lecturer, who is also a fashion designer based in Gumare, Mr Gibson Tinani, said that the training started on October 9 and will last for four weeks.

He said that he was happy with the students as they were fast learners, adding that they were all now able to design school uniforms and skirts and believes they will go and better their lives in their respective villages. Mr Tinani said that most of the women already had sewing machines bought by the council. ENDS