The Sunday News
Nontobeko Mlotshwa, Business Reporter
THE Beef and Leather Value Chain (BLVC) has donated machinery to Pumula Arts and Craft Centre to promote leather weaving and skiving as part of efforts to empower local communities.
The company donated two industrial sewing machines and one skiving machine worth US$4 000 each. The machines are going to see beneficiaries sewing leather products which includes school shoes, formal shoes, sandals, belts and leather bags.
Speaking to Sunday Business, Pumula Arts and Craft Centre founder and director Mrs Sikhulekile Dube said the machinery that was donated by Beef and Leather Value Chain will help them in producing leather products that they wished to sell to bigger markets at a cheaper price as they would be produced locally.
“We always wanted to produce leather products which include shoes and bags among other things that we produce at the Arts Centre but our main goal was to produce leather products that will be sold in bigger markets at a very cheap price so we lacked machinery and with this donation, I believe our dream of producing what we want will come true,” she said.
She further added that they also wanted to process leather at their own centre to cut costs from buying already processed leather.
“We have a dream to process leather here at our own centre so that we cut costs as it is expensive for us to buy processed leather as we are still a growing centre without much funding and if we process it at the end of the day, we will have profits. So, machinery is still what we need to realise our dreams as a centre,” she said.
Pumula Arts and Craft Centre is also determined in creating job opportunities for both youths and adults in Pumula community through educating them on how to produce cultural clothing which is made of beads and also weaving jerseys and many other things which they can sell and make money.
Mrs Dube said they were among other things helping young artists to nurture their talent in arts industry which includes cultural dances, painting and drawing in general as they believe that there was a lot of talent that deserves to be identified and polished. The youths would be able to compete with others in the industry.
“Art is a talent and it needs nurturing so that one can be able to compete in the world and shine so that is what we offer at the centre. We help young artists who are still growing to make it big in the industry and we do not just nurture young talent alone, we also work with Bulawayo artists who have created a name in the industry to help those who are still growing to create a name for themselves,” she said.
Pumula Arts and Craft Centre is into leather, art and crafts. It has afforded an opportunity for Pumula residents to realise their arts dreams and get something to sustain themselves.
