Entrepreneurs ready to start income-generating businesses

Pat Senne and sewing cooperative.

The Tembisa community members participating in the programme, held at the Tembisa Child and Family Welfare Society, achieved a level of technical skill, personal development, marketing and sales knowledge and financial management in one of three craft areas - bread-making, nappy-making or sewing.

Celebrating the achievements of the award recipients, Pat Senne, corporate affairs and communications director for Kraft Foods Sub Saharan Africa, said, "The company is delighted at the success of a project aimed at empowering ordinary citizens to become economically self-sustaining. We are exceptionally proud of the commitment of the participants who have made the most of this opportunity to better the lives of their families and the community."

The 22 women and two men who graduated will now be registered into one of three cooperatives, based on their new competencies in bread-making, nappy-making or sewing. They will also receive mentorship to start their own businesses, as well as assistance with capital to buy raw material and access to sources for supply orders.

All participants agreed that the project had empowered them to generate a stable income for their families. Once their businesses begin trading, the entrepreneurs will sell their products to schools, preschools, hospices, orphanages and the public in the greater community.

Besides skills training, funding has also been allocated toward the purchase of extra equipment for the sewing, baking and nappy-making enterprises; the construction of new administration offices; the installation of an irrigated vegetable garden; and the delivery of a motor vehicle for distribution of products. This was made possible through funding of R4.2 million from Cadbury Foundation, a member of Kraft Foods Inc.