Ekasinomics: Meet the woman who's trained 3000 people to make carpets from scratch amid the pandemic.
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Reitumetse Molapo used the lockdown period as an opportunity to teach people in her community how to make rugs and earn a living.
The 30-year-old from Welkom, Free State, who learnt the art of making rugs in 2017 while on a visit to Tanzania, said she had to think on her feet about how to earn an income when her business wasn’t doing well.
That’s when the idea of sharing her rug-making skill with other people came to her.
“The nicest part about this skill is that you don’t have to go to school to do it,” said Molapo. She recalled how on her visit to Tanzania she saw people on the streets making different types of things with their hands.
“Some were making shoes, belts, clothes and some rugs,” she said. From there she learned the skill and started making and selling rugs.
In Welkom she advertised her rug-making lessons on social media and through flyers. Soon people from as far as Bloemfontein were showing an interest and she would go to their homes to teach them how to make rugs.
To date she said she has trained more than 1,000 people, charging R600 a person for the lessons.
The 30-year-old from Welkom, Free State, who learnt the art of making rugs in 2017 while on a visit to Tanzania, said she had to think on her feet about how to earn an income when her business wasn’t doing well.
That’s when the idea of sharing her rug-making skill with other people came to her.
“The nicest part about this skill is that you don’t have to go to school to do it,” said Molapo. She recalled how on her visit to Tanzania she saw people on the streets making different types of things with their hands.
“Some were making shoes, belts, clothes and some rugs,” she said. From there she learned the skill and started making and selling rugs.
In Welkom she advertised her rug-making lessons on social media and through flyers. Soon people from as far as Bloemfontein were showing an interest and she would go to their homes to teach them how to make rugs.
To date she said she has trained more than 1,000 people, charging R600 a person for the lessons.
