A RURAL COMMUNITY BASED NETWORK OF WOMEN MANUFACTURING BEADED ITEMS SUPPORTING HIV/AIDS INITIATIVES IN CONJUCTION WITH NEW YORK-BASED BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS ORGANIZATION
Thembalethu Beaders was born in the pursuit of a meaningful contribution towards the rising levels of unemployment in the rural communities. We further recognise that training and education would serve no meaningful purpose unless it is linked to job creation – and to ensure the success of any such initiative, it is imperative that all of this becomes self sustainable.
INTRODUCTION :
South Africa is at the forefront of the African debate on HIV/AIDS. In some quarters there is a perception, that Africa as a continent and including South Africa are constantly; receiving handouts from international donors to address this domestic issue among others. There is a need to catalyse an African inspired activity that removes this misconception. There is also an immediate need to look at the rural communities where HIV/AIDS has its highest incidence and ensure that they are capable of achieving self-sustenance, and that in these communities there is empowerment and access to resources to address the issues of nutrition, treatment and care which go hand in hand with fighting this scourge.
CONCEPT :
Thembalethu Beaders is a network established by Thuli Dumakude, which focuses on the manufacture of beaded items by rural women. Currently, two projects have been successfully established in Tugela Ferry, KwaZulu-Natal, and in Kwandebele.
The rural women are supplied with their initial consignments of beads and all other raw materials at no costs, and with trial and error, assisted in creating beaded products of international quality.
These beaded items, through Ms. Dumakude’s relationship with Disney’s Lion King Productions with whom she has worked and was a cast member and through the artist based organization -- Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS – all in the US – are sold to theatre going audiences.
The concept of Thembalethu is based on a holistic approach and a new philosophy towards people, training, development, empowerment and business.
Thembalethu believes that an innovative and creative approach to the numerous challenges we are facing in South Africa, will unleash great opportunities for those rural women with the ability to rid themselves of the limiting beliefs of the past.
The result is an income generating community of rural women. These women, who generally meet in groups for their beading activities, are able to talk to each other and in this way, are developing solutions around the various issues on HIV and AIDS which impact on them. Several of these include AIDS orphans resulting in children raising children; grandmothers left to feed and care for their grandchildren.
These are some of the issues that the women discuss:
Migrant worker or truck driver husband and unprotected sex
Community based healthcare and medical access for people living with AIDS
Physical and sexual abuse of women and children
Signs and symptoms of HIV
How to deal with someone who is HIV positive
How to deal with someone who has full blown AIDS
Lack of medicine and clinics
Lack of transport to get to the clinics
Proper diet – clean water.
An opportunity exists, working in conjunction with corporates to expand this network of women manufacturing beaded items. Beaded items are an authentic product of South Africa. Essentially, the beadwork provides an opportunity for people of the world to own an original and authentic African artefact, and simultaneously be a part of the solution in the fight against poverty and HIV/AIDS.
"Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabanye Abantu / A Person is a person because of other people"
