Beading workshop at Namaqua National Park
I recently met Christine from one of the communities close to the park, she is looking to develop tourist activities in her community in the hope that people will stop, have a coffee and look around rather than just drive through as they do at the moment. She came to the park to speak with the manager but he was unavailable so we chatted for nearly an hour.
The outcome of this conversation was my agreement to run a beading workshop for ladies in the community. The idea is to teach them a few basic skills so they can make items to sell to tourists, therefore bringing money into an impoverished community.
I have now run two sessions and we have a third one planned, so far we have looked at some stitching techniques and some wire work ideas. The third session is going to be about recycling, we are going to look at some items made by others from recycled materials and see if we can learn how to replicate them.
When I first came to South Africa this was something I was hoping to do, trade my beading skills with those of the local people, as this country has a long tradition of beadwork.
Written by: Viv Pink (GVI Intern, Namaqua National Park)
Date posted: 17/05/2011
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