Publications
Partners
THE Motala Heights library, in conjunction with the Motala Heights Sewing Club, donated school bags and scarves to underprivileged pupils at Deda primary School in Tongaat recently.
Motala Heights librarian Angela Hounsell said the demin fabric for making the school bags was donated to the Motala Heights sewing club.
“We first pleaded for fabric to be donated in order for the ladies to sew these school bags. We had the urge to give a donation to underprivileged children and fortunately we had a wonderful sponsor from a shop in Umgeni Road that donated the material. The ladies have been busy sewing these bags for a couple of months. The ladies also donated knitted scarves for the pupils. The bags are made with a strong denim fabric so that it won’t tear easily when the pupils put their books and other stationery,” she said.
“This school was chosen as it has mostly orphaned children. Our connection with them is that the husband of a previous Motala Heights Library staff member teaches there and it also seemed to be more disadvantaged than many other schools we are aware of. This was also part of our Mandela Day initiative, to give back to the community or to underprivileged children.
She said the library, should it be able to secure sponsors, will definitely be doing this sort of donation in the future, saying: We could not have achieved this without partnering with the Motala Heights Sewing Club, to whom we are indebted.
“We are always looking for donations because the sewing club relies a lot on donation since it’s situated in a disadvantaged community,” said Hounsell.
“We also did a Mandela Day that went very well, with Sassa officials coming to process new cards and 132 cards being issued. This was organised in order to accommodate the community, some of whom are elderly, and to save them the effort of waiting in queues. It was much appreciated by all.”
Motala Heights Sewing Club spokesperson Mallie Govender said the club was established four years ago as a way of making the Motala Heights women independent.
“I got together with the seniors because I had a vision for the Motala Heights women to be independent and for them to do something for themselves to earn money. That’s when we decided to start a sewing club.
“We sew wonder bags, which can be used as a slow cooker — you can half cook your beans, rice and samp and put it in the wonder bag for it to be fully cooked, saving time and electricity.
“We also sew aprons and denim pants which we sell around the community. We are hoping to go bigger therefore we urge the community to donate sewing material and a sewing machine because we only use one machine at the moment.
Deda Primary School spokesperson SC Ngcobo was grateful for the donation, saying: “I would like to thank Motala Heights library and the sewing club for the generous donations. Deda Primary School has orphaned and vulnerable children that are part of the school therefore these donations will be given to them.
“We appreciate all the effort and we hope that the library and the club keep up the good work,” he said.
