WINDHOEK – Judging from the skillful fashion in which 31-year-old Johanna Mbidi, who hails from the Ohangwena Region, makes and repairs shoes, it is almost impossible to believe that it took her only two years to learn and master the trade.
Mbidi, who moved to Windhoek eight years ago in search of greener pastures, is unfazed by the fact that she failed Grade 10 and faced a bleak future considering that it is hard to find employment without at least an impressive school certificate.
When the opportunity arose in 2008 to work for a shoe repair shop in the Ombili location, Mbidi, who lives in Havana, grabbed the opportunity with both hands. She claims the owner of the business never paid them for their efforts as he gambled all the money away.
“He taught us how to make shoes and I did not take that for granted and I learned as much as I could. When I saw that I mastered the trade I left because I could not stay at a place where I was not paid. I walked to Ombili location from Havana each morning and my family looked up to me to provide money,” explained Mbidi.
She now has a stand in Havana, which she opened in December 2010, that she christened “Kondjeni shoe making and repair”.
“When I opened my own shoe making and repair business people in the community mocked me. They remarked that they would not wear shoes made by a woman but today they are the ones who come to me for shoes or to repair their worn out shoes,” she says.
It takes Mbidi about one week to make four or five pairs of shoes, depending mostly on the availability of material. She makes shoes from animal skin, rubber and tyres and she uses her hands to sew, cut and put everything together as she does not have equipment.
“I pick up tyres in riverbeds and around the community while I buy the rubber and animal skin. It is not difficult,” she says when asked how she manages. “I made sure I learnt as much as I could – take a close look at this shoe, you’d think I sewed it with a machine but I used my bare hands,” she says, before continuing to stitch the shoe.
Mbidi sells shoes that she makes from scratch for N$150 while she charges from N$15 upwards for a pair of shoes for repair, depending on the extent of the damage to the shoe.
“My customers are really happy with the way I work,” she pats herself on the back. However, some people do not pay her for her efforts after indeed promising to pay or they would take the shoes on credit but would not always pay the full amount after making a deposit. “Sometimes business goes very well and I am able to make a profit that enables me to buy bread for my two children,” she says.
Mbidi, who this year worked from home after undergoing an operation from which she is recovering, dreams of expanding her business so that she employs at least one person. “I started my business at home with N$500 and when it grew I moved to my stand just at the bus stop in Havana but I want it to grow so that I can employ other people,” she says.
Her customers, she adds, are mostly from the Havana and Hakahana informal settlements. “I am able to make all sorts of shoes. What I need is the machinery,” she says.
By Alvine Kapitako