Doreen Mokgolo
14 unemployed women from Slovo Park in Ekurhuleni have come together to turn the water hyacinths from their local river into a business opportunity.
The women recently underwent a four-week training course in which they learned how to craft furniture out of the aquatic plants.
NGO Thekga Project, which organised the course, empowers unemployed women in townships by offering them skills to improve their financial situation.
The water hyacinth is a water weed found in dams and rivers, sometimes covering huge areas of water. The plant is invasive and known to disturb the ecosystem, so harvesting it is not only beneficial to the local communities, but also to the wildlife.
Project manager Boitumelo Mphahlele, who is a self-taught crafter, told Scrolla.Africa: “With my background of weaving reed mats, I strongly believed that something good could come out of the water hyacinth.
“I learned through online videos from people in Vietnam and decided to share the skill to empower unemployed women,” she said.
Boitumelo is hoping the women will use the acquired skill to turn their lives around.
“They now have the skills and raw material to turn their finances around,” she said.
Beneficiary Johanna Makoe said she didn’t know anything good could come out of the plant.
“I only knew it as weeds that disturb the ecosystem in the local dams, killing the aquatic species which lead to the bad smell that comes from the Blesbok River,” she said.
“I have been unemployed for seven years and I grabbed the opportunity to attend the training course with both hands.”
Johanna is planning to start a furniture-making business with other unemployed women.
