MALTAHÖHE – Thirty young people from the Daweb Constituency have started a youth empowerment initiative, the Daweb Tailoring and Beads project, to help alleviate poverty among youths in the constituency.
The project last Friday received a donation of tailoring and beads materials worth N$25 000 from Nampower through the Patty’s Heart Foundation. From the material the youth would be making Nama traditional attire and accessories for selling to tourists to the Hardap Region. sales and marketing manager of the project, Josef Westhuizen, says, adding it not only targets young people, but also unemployed single mothers and orphans in the constituency. “Profit will be used to [fund] other youth projects that can [jerk up] the town’s economy,” says Westhuizen.
Westhuizen says that young people who are part of the project will receive training from professionals who have been in the tailoring industry for long as well as in making beads and cutting materials, starting next week, to make sure the project will not fail and continue to operate smoothly. The first attire made by the project will be showcased at the Nama Cultural Festival in Keetmanshoop in May.
“By empowering the youths with this massive project, we are also meeting the government halfway making sure that young people are providing for themselves through their own knowledge,” says Westhuizen.
Owner of the Patty’s Heart Foundation, Nangula Geingos, says they will continue to support young people’s initiatives with the connections they have.
Governor of the Hardap Region, Esme Sophia Isaak, said at the official handover of the donation last Friday that she has it on good authority that the mandate of the Patty’s Heart Foundation is to identify the critical needs of existing orphanages and old age homes to assist them in improving the livelihood of their communities.
“Given the high unemployment rate in the region, especially amongst our youths, I am urging the beneficiaries today to take ownership of this donation for the common good of all,” said the governor.
She encouraged the beneficiaries to grab the first chance with both hands and create their own second chance. “We must not stop to do the right things as long as we know that we are doing the right things,” she said.