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Photographs courtesy Ann Horssman (USA)
Ann took these photographs for us during her annual trip to South Africa

Sophie Masango and some of her work Sophie where she sells her goods in Sunnyside, Pretoria. Sophie and "Grandma" Makoko at the Union buildings where they sell craft. Some of the family's work. Sophie's Garage which we would like to turn into a bead work and doll making school. Sophie Masango is 52 years old, has 8 kids ranging from 8 to 32. Her husband used to drive a taxi but the vehicle broke down and he (only recently) found work again. Her children also do "piece jobs" as and when it is available but she mainly supports the family with her bead work. Sophie Masango sells her bead work in Sunnyside, Pretoria in front for Cash Crusaders. Cash Crusaders helps her from time to time when she needs to store things overnight and when she has to leave parcels for people to collect. She travels daily from KwaNdebele to Pretoria, but works from home when she obtains orders and then only travel to deliver the product. The Masango family live and work from a place called Kameelrivier B ,120 km from Pretoria. The land belongs to King Mahisha III and Sophie is very proud of her house which she built herself. Municipal services are not available but running water and electricity (pre-paid system) is available to the local community. Kameelrivier B has "many" unemployed people - no real figures are available at this point in time but Tweefontein F and G close by has a total population of 24,000 of which 70% are unemployed. The people in this area do not understand English and in many cases they cannot read nor write. This, in essence leads to a situation where they work as domestic workers in Marble Hall or travel to Pretoria and Johannesburg where they sell their goods. Sophie has a team of 10 people that she would like to train in the "Bead school". We aim to turn her existing garage into a work place where the women could meet and teach each other their traditional craft. Frasers will be making a donation after Christmas 2002 which will be used to buy material to manufacture beaded items and dolls to be sold on this web site and through our "Women in Africa" project. We aim to build this project to such an extend that Tweefontein F and G could be incorporated and Sophie's team teach the nearby group of 38 women to deliver work set to comply with International standards. Close Window or go to the home page.