While mourning the death of her mother in 2020, Nobukhosi Malonde picked up a new skill to occupy her mind.
Four years later, that skill not only puts food on her table but saw her now late son through university and continues to change the lives of other budding crafters.
“I saw a poster on someone’s WhatsApp profile picture advertising a wire-weaving workshop that was going to be held on March 2 2020,” Malonde said.
New skill weaving skill got crafter through mother’s death, Covid-19 — and now she’s teaching it to others
“I had no idea what that was, but because I was stressed and struggling to cope with my mother’s passing. I decided I was going to attend the workshop by Nela Kahle Art and Crafts.
“There were about 50 of us in the workshop and we were taught to make one pair of earrings and a weaving basket.”
After the workshop, Malonde ordered material to start making her own jewellery.
To help cope with the passing of her mother, Nobukhosi Malonde turned to jewellery-making and is now a flourishing business. (SUPPLIED)
She used it to make more earrings and taught herself new patterns at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“As I was making the earrings, I found that I was enjoying focusing on what I was doing.
“It reduced my stress and relaxed my mind. I had no customers at the time, so I was just making the jewellery with no-one in mind.
“Once I had made a lot of them, I put them in a 2l bucket, took them to town sold them to people who saw and liked them. To this day, I don’t go to town without my bucket.”
Malonde said the income she made from the jewellery had got her through the pandemic.
“It was a tough time for many of us.
Source: https://www.dailydispatch.co.za/news/2024-04-05-nobukhosi-malondes-wired-for-success/
