A WEAVING project for early childhood development (ECD) centres was recently held at Doon Heights Primary School by Indwe Africa, along with Afri-Weave and the Rotary E Club.

Iris Canham, community development practitioner at Indwe Africa, attributed the quote, ‘In the tapestry of life, we are all connected. Each one of us is a gift to those around us, helping each other be who we are, weaving a perfect picture together’ by Anita Moorjani, an international author, to the weaving project.

“Together with Afri-Weave and the Rotary E Club One of SA, they embarked on a project in Amanzimtoti involving eight preschools from the community, and the rural preschools on the outskirts of the community, in a pilot project to develop these innate skills within young children.”

“What started out as people passionate about working with and helping children, had the added bonus of women helping women and their families to improve their lives.

“With our culture moving more to screen-based activities, there is a fear that there will be a slower connection to the world around us as our hands are the brain connection to our environment. We believe that the development of fine motor skills plays a crucial role in the development of the whole child,” said Canham.

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This is why Afri-Weave’s Carroll Lazarus, creator of the programme, has been inspirational in the roll-out.
“Carroll created a simple set of needles for weaving combined with yarn to teach children and adults to weave. We embarked on the project to train teachers in ECDs to take this back to their Grade Rs. Weaving develops fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination and the use of the mind and hands simultaneously. This helps develop the skill for reading and writing,” said Canham.

“The benefits of the weaving project for children include: coordination and concentration, independence, creativity, creates a sense of order, and improves engagement, mathematics and communication. Furthermore, it is a lifelong skill.”

Although the intention was for children, the project has expanded to include women empowerment groups who are now weaving mats and useful household pieces to sell to raise income for their ECD centres and to improve household incomes.

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Logie Naidoo from the Rotary E Club was pleased with the turnout and how the women have begun women’s groups, as well, apart from teaching children to weave.

“The pilot project wrapped up at the end of September with a new intake envisaged for 2023. Some parents of children in the programme can look forward to very special woven gifts this Christmas,” said Canham.

For more information, or to join, contact Iris Canham at [email protected].

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