Some of the students with their managers carrying the new tools. From left: Fiona Bhawuli (supervisor), Nomawethu Ngxangane, Thandeka Arens, Sizeka Maliwa Bongeka Qalase and Rainbow Education and Skills Development programme manager Nokubonga Mepeni.
On Wednesday 31 January, the non-profit organisation (NPO), Rainbow Education and Skills Development, received plumbing tools from Arm In Arm In Africa ( AIAIA), an international NPO that empowers deserving organisations with new opportunities and tools. Among others, AIAIA supplied RESD with two spades, two spirit levels and three toolboxes with plumbing kits.
Prolonged water leaks due to financial difficulties could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to training offered by Rainbow Education and Skills Development (RESD).
On Wednesday 31 January, the non-profit organisation (NPO) received plumbing tools from Arm In Arm In Africa ( AIAIA), an international NPO that empowers deserving organisations with new opportunities and tools. Among others, AIAIA supplied RESD with two spades, two spirit levels and three toolboxes with plumbing kits.
The handover happened at JL Zwane Church in Gugulethu.
Nokubonga Mepeni, programme manager at RESD, said the equipment meant a lot, as the organisation had been struggling to get tools for their trainees.
“As an organisation, we’ve been training women in plumbing since 2020,” she pointed out, having trained 55 in all. “This year, we decided to take some of the class of 2023 for practicals for a week. We divided them into groups. We have seven groups with a week for each, which has seven trainees and a rotating supervisor.
They started last week and were expected to finish by the end of April, Mepeni said.
She added only the most struggling families were being targeted for such training.
“We assist only those families who struggle a lot, those who can’t afford to hire plumbers to fix their pipes. We first visit the family and assess the problem, then we buy the needed equipment without charging a cent.”
She said the aim is to equip them so they can work for themselves instead of waiting to be employed.
One of the trainees, Thandeka Arens, remarked on how the experience has empowered her.
She said she doesn’t need to ask anyone to assist her in doing small things.
“Now I can fix or change a tap, sink or toilet pot without asking anyone. Now I am able to assist people in my community.”
Aren urged other women to move away from their comfort zones and start exploring new beneficial experiences.
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