Shining initiative generates jobs, spreads eco-gospel
[caption id="attachment_37710" align="alignright" width="405"] SIMPLY BRILLIANT: Karoo Kwezi founder Irma Weyers, centre back, is pictured here together with members of her team – from left, Noluthando Mambinja, Sheila Mbusi, Lydia Gxavu, Gugu Matiwane, Irene Ndlovu and Ntombizakhe Ngcosholo[/caption]
A SOMERSET East women's empowerment initiative that up-cycles plastic bottles into lights and gifts has been so successful that it has expanded into Walmer township with a second workshop.
The Karoo Kwezi lights were on show at Richmond Hill Music Festival outside the Alliance Francaise last weekend, and also on display last month at The Herald Boardwalk Bridal Fair, and they are a popular choice for weddings as table centrepieces, says their creator, Irma Weyers.
A Port Elizabeth graphic designer, Weyers created Karoo Kwezi in 2012, designing all the products and then training staff in Somerset East to make them, at the suggestion of a friend, Elize van Aardt, who lived in the Karoo.
"We make lights from recycled material such as 2l bottles, design the products and train the ladies," Weyers said. However, having initially started the workshop in Somerset East, they soon realised they needed another workshop to handle all the orders.
"Two months ago I started training the ladies from the Human Dignity Centre in Walmer Township, run by Jerusalem Ministries," she said.
The project came about when her church gave her three bags full of empty Coke bottles to decorate for an orphanage, she explained. "They wanted to put sweets in them. I decorated them, and then I took them back to church. They liked them so much that they all wanted to buy them."
Weyers decided to explore the medium as she had always been "curious" about light and how the glow of a light bulb transforms into something softer and more appealing when it shines through something placed in front.
The idea consumed her and as a result she transformed her bedroom into a workshop, "cutting up Coke bottles on my bedroom floor and working hard to perfect the design and structure for about two years".
Then Van Aardt told her "this is enough! You can't just work from your bedroom floor, we have to start a project, get a workshop and a production line going."
Van Aardt put Weyers in touch with the Blue Crane Project at The Hub in Somerset East. From then, their Karoo Kwezi lights took off. "There is a lot of poverty, and hard-working women eager to work. Elize is from the Karoo and the women kept begging her for work," said Weyers. "We were featured on (the television show) Pasella last year. Our first order was the first green hotel in PE, The Grand Hotel, and they bought 12 lights."
Karoo Kwezi also conducted a light-making workshop at the Alliance Francaise last week, with 15 people, for the Richmond Hill Music Festival last weekend. The lights will now be on sale at Loca Vintage Bridal Lounge in Stanley Street, opening Monday.
The concept of "Karoo Kwezi" was inspired by the indigenous Karoo flowers, caring for the environment "and keeping our towns and suburbs clean," Weyers added. "At Karoo Kwezi we want to keep on creating new and trendy products and at the same time also educate children about recycling and keeping the environment clean."
The project also provides opportunities for disadvantaged women in the community through training and skills development.
"Karoo Kwezi is my passion and creative outlet. My dream is to expand it and create more and more jobs," said Weyers. - Sinesipho Mbandazayo
