NOMAKOSAZANA FUZILE
A group of eight East London women are receiving training through an appliance repair programme, hosted by a non-profit social enterprise, Taking Care of Business (TCB).
The programme is designed to equip unemployed women in local communities and assist them to start their own appliance repair businesses.
Beneficiaries of the programme receive training to repair broken, damaged or faulty small appliances donated by the public or retail partners such as Shoprite.
TCB has been selecting individuals through a recruitment programme every year since 2010 in Cape Town, Durban and Paarl and recently opened a branch in East London, where the eight women joined.
The repair programme is one five successful enterprise development programmes aimed at empowering men and women across the country.
Nomakosazana Fuzile, 46, joined the programme in March, after a period of unemployment due to health problems. She joined the programme, despite her reservations about the skills being more tailored to men.
Fuzile said the skills that she was learning through the programme had helped her improve her life in a way that would benefit her family. She said she was learning skills that she had also started teaching her children at home.
“l am learning more about electricity and fixing appliances. Everyday we learn something new. We have coaching and mentorship classes that really help us deal with our personal traumas and experiences.
“l have grown as a person and my way of looking at things has really improved. l am no longer a negative person, and l always strive to find ways to fix and cope with daily challenges,” Fuzile said.
The divorced mother of three says that she would love to use the skills that she had learnt to start her own business one day and help other women in their businesses too.
“l see myself having my own repair business in future. At first l was not confident enough to even touch electrical appliances because l was scared of electricity but now l can open appliances and work on them with ease. I am more curious now to find the fault in an appliance and fix it if possible. One day, I would love to help and support other women to make a change in their life the way that TCB has done for me,” Fuzile said.
TCB East London branch manager Estelle Cox said the repair programme was one five successful enterprise development programmes aimed at empowering men and women across the country.
“The goal is to equip our repair beneficiaries with the technical skills, business and financial skills and knowledge needed to repair appliances and sell them for a profit in their communities.
“They are also able to offer repair services to their customers, which is a sustainable business opportunity.
“We aim to create social and financially independent business owners. We include life-skills training as well as coaching and mentoring to help them on their journey to self-determination. We believe that with the right support structure, everyone can become self-employed,” Cox said.
Related
www.goexpress.co.za
https://www.goexpress.co.za/2023/09/21/women-trained-to-launch-appliance-repair-businesses/
