Elderly people share handwork talents
“Besides teaching the younger generation, they have found a way to deal with physical and emotional issues.”
A handwork club for elderly people from the Rethabile service centre in Mamelodi uses the money they make from selling their beads to go on social visits.
“Since the club was started, we have been to Durban, Pretoria Zoo, Vilakazi Street – to name a few,” club chairperson Rosinah Rahlogo (73) told Rekord.
The club uses the beads to decorate shoes, berets and wool throws.
Now they want to share their handwork skills with younger generations.
“We feel that young people don’t know much about handwork and we want to share our knowledge with them.”
Besides financing their social visits, the club has found the handwork to very therapeutic.
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“It is a way to deal with physical and emotional issues,” said Rahlogo.
“We all love handwork and we also have something to share with one another. We are very happy to be doing handwork together.”
The money they make is definitely a bonus though.
“We always go outings for fun with the money. Thanks to selling our handwork we have transport money for trips,” said Rahlogo.
“It is important for us to have extra cash.”
The club regularly organises fund-raising days to which they invite elders from other clubs in Mamelodi.
However, Rahlogo said they take their handwork “very seriously” and always work on deadlines.
“We sometimes have to finish our work at home,” she said.
“Besides that, we always teach one another new things and that’s how we have developed so many skills.”
A member of the club, Johanna Mohlala, also said the club wanted to share their skills with a younger generation.
“We feel youngsters don’t know much about handwork,” she said.
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“We would be happy if we can show them a thing or two about handwork.”
She also encouraged other elderly people in Mamelodi to “start doing something”.
“It helps fighting boredom at home,” said Mohlala.
“It also helps deal with stress.”
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