The COVID-19 crisis is having a devastating effect on all social and economic sectors in South Africa, especially the individuals who work at lodges, safari’s and tourist attraction places, who rely on the operation of their organizations in order to receive an income. For a group of women sewing in the tiny settlement of Kylemore, in the Western Cape, it has meant almost their entire earnings have dried up.
The ladies sew ‘mascots’ for Community Conservation Funds Africa (CCFA), a registered NPC which is both a fundraising and grant-giving organization, focusing on active education and empowerment in local communities. Together with Baby Cuddles, they design and produce the CCFA animal mascots. This project had created permanent employment for six women and continues to grow.
In an effort to curb the spread of the virus, the national lockdown has prohibited tourism, which means that there is no demand for the mascots, so the team of seamstresses had to adapt to the current situation and change their core business. They decided to make masks, using the Department of Health guidelines.
Melanie Laing from Baby Cuddles said, ” This time life threw them a pandemic but, as with so many South Africans, we have turned this situation around and are now making mascots into masks. There will be three of us sewing for this project, myself and two of the ladies all working from home, and we aim to make at least 600 masks a week. The work will bring in an income to help fund and assist all nine of us in the company and our families during this Covid-19 crisis.”
