ONGWEDIVA - Ndeshihafela Shakumu decided to start her own business of crafting keyholders to complement her clerical income and maintain her children.

“I am a mother to four beautiful children and making ends meet was a struggle, and I needed an extra source of income. I was thinking of doing nails, but I realised nail technicians were a lot. I made up my mind and decided to make personalised keyholders,’’ she told Youth Corner.

Shakumu (37) highlighted that managing work and her children is not really a struggle for her since she prefers doing the keyrings during the weekend or on her free days.

“I have plans of owning my own kids’ craft school, but funds are a problem right now. I really want to expand my business beyond the keyholders; it is my passion and I really love doing what I do,” she added.

Shakumu maintained that she is multitalented and can do hair and nails, and has decided to pass on her talents to her 15-year-old daughter so she can be independent.

“I want her to learn at a young age to make her own pocket money and be self-reliant, so we now craft together at home.”

She taught herself how to make keyholders after attending a one-day training course to make handbags.

“During the course, I decided to also teach myself how to make keyholders. The handbag business was going well until the customers started not to pay half of the required deposit and at times will no longer buy the finished product, plus the beads were very expensive and scarce in the north,” she narrated.

When the handbag business started to fail, Shakumu decided to give up and was unemployed for seven years but focused on getting a job, and eventually ended up landing a job as a clerk at Ediva Real Estate.

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