By Nkhensani Mthombeni
- In Touch Community Development and Project trains mainly women, young people and people with disabilities in building, plumbing, carpentry, bricklaying and painting.
- Former trainee Kulani Rikhotso used her plumbing and construction training to build a business that now employs others and takes in new trainees.
Kganya Ramoshaba Bbenkele is not only teaching women how to build walls. She is helping them build independent lives.
Through her organisation, In Touch Community Development and Project, Ramoshaba Bbenkele trains women in skills that have traditionally been dominated by men.
Women learn plumbing, carpentry, bricklaying, painting and other construction skills that can help them find work or start businesses of their own.
Speaking to Scrolla.Africa, Ramoshaba Bbenkele said her organisation makes a special effort to reach women, young people and people living with disabilities.
She said between 70% and 80% of people taking part in their programmes should be women.
The organisation identifies skills that are needed in rural communities across different provinces.
If a community needs plumbers, for example, the organisation develops a proposal and approaches the Construction Education and Training Authority for support.
Once a programme is approved, students are recruited, introduced to the programme and trained.
They also receive a monthly stipend while completing their training.
For women who may already be struggling financially, that money can make the difference between being able to attend training or staying at home.
“Through the stipend these women are able to transport themselves, buy food and also gain skills, which most end up starting up their own businesses or get employment,” Ramoshaba Bbenkele said.
And some of those success stories are already creating opportunities for others.
Former trainee Kulani Rikhotso now runs her own plumbing and construction business in Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
She credits the skills she gained through In Touch with helping her become a business owner.
“Through the skills I obtained from In Touch, I’m able to run a thriving business and also employ other people,” Rikhotso said.
She has also started giving other trainees the same helping hand she once received.
“I also take in some of the trainees from the programme and guide them along the way,” she said.
For Ramoshaba Bbenkele, seeing women such as Rikhotso move from training into business is exactly why the work matters.
Born and raised in Aqua Park in Tzaneen, Limpopo, Ramoshaba Bbenkele learned about business from an early age.
Her father is an entrepreneur and encouraged her to think like a businesswoman.
But she said the biggest lesson he taught her was not about making money.
It was about integrity.
“My father says integrity will sustain you,” she said.
That lesson continues to shape the way she runs her organisation.
“In this industry it is important to pay people what is due to them. It is no good exploiting people,” she said.
“My father taught me to put people first, love and build others and in the long run it will speak for you.”
Ramoshaba Bbenkele, who is the organisation’s managing director, said more women are entering construction and discovering that they enjoy the work.
She wants even more women to realise that jobs once seen as men’s work are also open to them.
Her message during Women’s Month is for women to recognise just how much they already carry and achieve.
“Celebrate your strength,” she said.
“We run everything, homes, businesses, work, the community and we make things happen and that in itself is power.”
She believes women should recognise their potential and use their abilities fully rather than allowing their dreams and talents to remain hidden.
For Ramoshaba Bbenkele, her motivation comes from knowing that the work can change another person’s future.
Her purpose, she said, is uplifting others and recognising that people around her need the opportunities she can help create.
And every woman who leaves her programme able to build, repair, earn an income or employ someone else carries that purpose into another home and another community.
Pictured above: Kganya Ramoshaba Bbenkele, who trains women, young people and people with disabilities in construction skills.
Image source: Supplied.
