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Lizzie Mikosi, Product Owner
 


Uhambo Creations

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FROM the street, the rambling house where Uhambo Creations is based in Linden, Johannesburg, gives no hint of the treasures that lie within.

Drive in, walk through the dense, shaded garden and enter the workshop where Judy Henshall and Lizzie Mikosi have been in business for more than a decade and you will feel that you have somehow been magically transported to the Land of Beautiful Things.
Light streams through the roof onto an indoor pool that could be a jungle pond; everywhere there is a riot of colour, a treasure trove of stunning African art, fabrics and fabulous knickknacks.

The house in Third Street, Linden is the headquarters of Uhambo Creations, a marketing business that employs up to nine people full-time but that provides income to 300 women all over South Africa, most of whom would otherwise have no income other than government grants.

Uhambo sources orders for its products – crafts, fashion, linen, beaded work and promotional items. (Beautifully embroidered and beaded conference notepads and conference bags are among Uhambo’s top sellers.) With the Fifa World Cup approaching in 2010 Uhambo has begun a line of stunning beaded vuvuzelas – the plastic horns which have become a staple of soccer-watching in South Africa.

Lizzie and Judy do the product design and brief groups of women who typically get together in the home of a member of their group to work and create. Uhambo then picks up the products as they are finished, checks the quality and pays the women. In a good year Uhambo can turn over R4-million, most of which goes to the women, in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and as far away as the Western Cape.

These women use their traditional skills of sewing, beadwork, appliqué and embroidery — skills which, says Judy, are in danger of dying out unless a market for their products is created and sustained.

According to the Uhambo website, Lizzie and Judy have “worked together, travelled to many international destinations on behalf of their projects, struggled, cried, laughed and shared for over 14 years. The people encountered in this journey are many, ranging from struggle heroes to presidents, government ministers and business people, and most significantly, the women who often travel many hundreds and thousands of kilometres to meet them.

“It is a joy and a sadness to experience these women who finally find work for their hands that can produce a means to source food for themselves and their families. A joy observing individuals discover a purpose, and a sadness that it has not been this from the beginning. The majority of women encountered as network workers and trainees respond so positively, firstly to encouragement and fair treatment, and secondly, to being guided to their innate ability to create objects of worth.”

Lizzie, who is now an equal partner in Uhambo, was a domestic worker for 19 years in Judy’s home. But she was always fascinated by the creative process going on around her and, with the help of Judy and other expert trainers, she became a top-class beader. Lizzie was also interested in the business side of Uhambo and slowly but surely came to play a bigger and bigger role. A year ago she became a full partner with Judy.

Growing up in Venda, in Limpopo province, Lizzie says she never had the chance to go to school. “My father was a farmer and had also not been to school.  He wanted me to stay on the farm to help him. There was no chance for school but here at Uhambo I feel like I’m going to school every day. I’m learning all the time.”

Apart from working with Judy on the marketing and administration Lizzie is the chief quality controller. She interacts daily with the women producing materials and products and encourages them to keep to their deadlines and quality standards. “If something is not perfect the women have to take it back and start again or just make it perfect,” says Lizzie.

Working with beautiful things in a beautiful setting is the best job Lizzie could imagine. “Also, we are helping women to feed themselves and their families. I am so happy working at Uhambo.”
While Judy and Lizzie are invariably marketing or interacting with their many suppliers, visitors to the Linden office are more than welcome to drop by for a cup of coffee. “We would love people to come here and see what we do,” says Lizzie. “Whether they want to give us orders or buy something, or just see our beautiful things, they are most welcome.”

www.uhambocreations.co.za

 
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