By Ashley Moyo
SCORES of artistic vulnerable women in Bonda, Mutasa are reaping “gold” by weaving baskets from garbage in an empowerment drive initiated by Knowstics Academy.
Riding on the government’s Education 5.0, one of the officials at the academy Josephine Samusodza said the response from the community was awesome and encouraging.
“While the Education 5.0 is targeted for students, we have since extended the concept to vulnerable women in our community as part of the school’s social corporate responsibility and we are happy that the initiative has yielded desired results. “Weaving of baskets, bags and other stuff goes a long way, cushioning the single mothers and widows in the community against financial stresses. Materials used in the project are sourced locally at no cost hence huge profits,” Samusodza said.
Most of the materials are sourced from the academy’s department of fashion and fabrics as garment off cuts. “The empowerment initiative is not confined to basket weaving alone but also to agriculture and manufacturing.
We rely on off -cuts from the fashion department hence we also play a crucial role in cleaning the environment through recycling,” she said. One of the beneficiaries of the project only identified as Chinheya was equally happy.
“Art is one of the easiest ways of making money. It is not capital intensive but returns are high. We get our customers locally and nearby towns such as Mutare, Nyanga and Rusape among others,” of the beneficiaries just identified as Chinheya said.
Knowstics, one of the best run private academies in Manicaland, opened its doors to the public in 2008 and since then it has impacted positively to the community. Edith Mukwapasi, the academy principal, urged women to be self-reliant.
“For our country to progress, we need action as mere talk yields nothing. Women should be self-reliant; they should take a lead role in the economic recovery. Zimbabwe is a rich country and its people should not suffer from poverty. There are a lot of opportunities in this country,” Mukwapasi said.