‘Creating advantage out of disadvantage for young adults’
May 2024 Newsletter
It’s Election Day in South Africa, and it’s an ideal time to reflect, and write the first 2024 Sihlalo newsletter. It has been 12 months since our last newsletter. Not that we didn’t have anything to write about in that time, but we have learnt that the only constant in Sihlalo is change, and that everything takes much longer to achieve than anticipated. There is always something to fix, learn, or modify, so a success story this week might turn into a redesign story next week.
When Sihlalo first started in 2019 we faced many raised eyebrows in both South Africa and Australia, with the common question in both countries being ‘why would you want to do this’? We have asked ourselves this question way too many times since, but there are more positives than negatives, and overall, I’m so glad that we have had this opportunity to be change agents, even in some small way.
Our vision is to improve lives and opportunities by capacity building and skill acquisition for young people who may not previously have had access to the opportunities that Sihlalo presents.
Finding the right people to invest in has been the biggest challenge, and the greatest reward. We have a wonderful 2024 team!
The Sihlalo workshop team
Wilson is the workshop foreman and leads the day-to-day operations in the Sihlalo workshop. Now that Keith’s illnesses have prevented him from travelling from Australia to teach in person, Wilson has taken on the roles of training, and product development. He is the first Sihlalo woodwork graduate, having completed all three Sihlalo woodwork training certificates in 2022. He leads from the front in product design, prototyping, workshop management, organisation, and quality control.
In 2024, Sihlalo management decided to focus on young women as woodwork trainees. And what a
rewarding decision that has been! The first part of the girls’training has been in occupational health and
safety, with the daily rule being ‘go home with the same number of fingers as you came with’. Their
beautiful hair has to be well out of the way, and masks, safety glasses and ear-muffs are the designer accessories! And all the girls seem fine with getting dirty (a workshop constant)….. It takes a special girl
to want to work in a woodwork workshop!
Faith, Jenae and Alice came to Sihlalo after matriculating from Zonnebloem High School. They all had a desire to learn to work with their hands, but they had little knowledge about woodwork. Because of their keen interest, and their attention to detail, they have very quickly become important players in the workshop. They are all part-time learners.
FAITH
Faith is the senior trainee, as she started in the Sihlalo training program during 2023. She is also in her second year studying Graphic Design at CPUT. She has been undertaking finer detail furniture restoration under Wilson’s eye, and is an integral part of the production and design team.
JANAE
Jenae divides her time between the Sihlalo workshop and an
internship at the Long March to Freedom to Freedom. She has only been with Sihlalo since January 2024
and is already independently operating machinery, and
taking responsibility for product completion.
ALICE
Alice has just started her first year in Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies at Eduvos College. She has only been with Sihlalo since February 2024. One of her outputs was making and decorating aeroplanes which went to Australia for sale. She is largely taking responsibility for Sihlalo social media, and photography
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