Most of the women attending Mamelani's workshops are unemployed and the need to include income generating activities in the programme have become clear. The first initiative comes in the form of a recycling project where three ladies are turning boxes such as cereal boxes and tetrapak containers into wallets that look beautiful, work well and last long.

Omo boxes, romany cream boxes, Liqui fruit, you name it! These boxes are being carefully hand crafted into stylish practical wallets at Mamelani as part of an income generating Christmas project.

The wallets are meant to be functional and fun, whether the wallet is made from a milk carton or a tea box,  most importantly, they are meant to make us think about our waste in a new way. We want the wallets to promote the idea that what one considers to be waste can be turned into something useful. Also, the fact that the wallets have been made from recycled materials will hopefully remind us to reflect on our consumption patterns and encourage less wasteful lifestyles.

There has been an exciting response from individuals and organizations, inspired both by the creative aspect and the recycling aspect of the project. Currently the project is focusing on the Christmas sales but the ladies involved intend to take it further in the new year, finding new innovative ways of giving your rubbish a make-over. Let us turn your waste into a “Lucky Sipaji” (Isipaji meaning wallet in isiXhosa). You ask, whats lucky about our wallets… buy one and you’ll see!

If anyone would like to collaborate, we are collecting boxes and taking orders. We also need a sewing machine to see us into the new year.

contact Catherine on  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for more info.

 Jabulisiwe, Catherine and Pelokazi - the creators of these beautiful wallets!

Mamelani's Wellness Programme was today listed on the SASIX exchange, an initiative of GreaterGood SA.

The South African Social Investment Exchange (SASIX) is South Africa's first social investment 'stock exchange' where carefully selected projects are listed and offered to the public as investment opportunities with a social return. SASIX provides independent research, evaluation and monitoring to ensure that listed projects meet a set of criteria, including the ability to deliver measurable returns. These returns are social rather than financial but they are nonetheless vital for development in South Africa.

A prospectus is printed quarterly and detailed Project Proposal Profile documents are available on this website, outlining each investment opportunity. They include a risk analysis, the minimum investment required and metrics portraying the qualitative and quantitative life change that is expected as a result of the project.

See http://www.sasix.co.za/projects/view/BH-WC-MAR09-0001/ for more details.

This years National Nutrition week ran from October 9th -13th and was focussed on Healthy Eating for Children.

More than half of South Africa’s children under the age of nine are deficient in Vitamin A, with more than one in ten being iron deficient. This affects their growth, development and school performance. According to the national food consumption survey 2005, ten percent of South African children under nine are overweight and four percent are obese. This co-existence of both under-nutrition and over-nutrition, places a double burden of disease on the country.

Mamelani facilitators chose to highlight some key messages around healthy eating to the broader public on Friday October 9th at Site C taxi rank and on Monday October 12th at Nyanga taxi rank. Information was shared with parents and caregivers, who are the ones responsible for preparing food for their children, about cooking methods that retain maximum vitamin and mineral content of food. Information was also shared regarding how to prepare a balanced meal and the importance of eating a variety of fruit and vegetables was also shared.

The awareness days included competitions, songs and lively debates with men and women, young an old.

Mamelani has initiated an internship programme where young men who have grown up in Children's Homes are able to gain valuable work experience and skills necessary for entering the working world.

“Apart from the obvious benefits of an internship programme, such as skills development and job preparation, I have seen a huge amount of personal growth in the young men that have been participating in this programme. They have told me about how it has made them more confident and given them a greater sense of self worth and I have been impressed by their determination to succeed at work. One of the young men is getting up at 4:30am to travel from Khayelitsha to Steenberg, and in the first week did not have an alarm clock, but was still on time every day. Another young man, who has never coped in other job placements, offered to work more days than initially agreed. When I explained that even if he worked more days, he would not get a higher stipend, he said that he was aware of that and that he didn’t mind. He said he was really enjoying his work and was hoping to impress his employer” - Clinton Osbourn, Programme facilitator.

This is what some of them have had to say about their internship experience:

Sandile, who has been working for Waterfront Boat Company, has gained a lot from the experience and is ready to face the working world with his newly acquired skills and confidence. When asked about the internship he said “I have learnt that there is nothing that I cannot do. I can work with anyone and speak with people that I don’t know”.

Vusumzi, who has been working at Minuka's Restaurant had this to say “I have enjoyed making new friendships at work. I have learnt that I am able to adapt easily to new situations. This internship has helped me become more confident. Now I am able to work anywhere”

Gcobani, who has been working at Lola's restaurant had this to say “What I enjoy the most is the people that I work with and the friendships that they have for me. I have learnt to cook and to make a lot of different things. I have learnt that I can stand up for myself. I can be with people that I am not used to being with as equals and I can make friendships with them. The internship has given me more confidence and it has helped me to look after myself and my family. It has also improved my relationship with my family as I am able to contribute and my girlfriend’s parents respect me now because I am working”.

The strength of the programme lies in that it works intensively with the youth building their self esteem and identifying their most suitable career path. Many of them have not completed school as their life situations have not afforded them that opportunity. However, what they lack in education, they make up in commitment.

Mamelani Projects partnered with Soil for Life to celebrate the world’s first annual Mandela Day last Saturday, July 18^th by planting 67 container gardens with spinach plants which will be given to women who are beneficiaries of Mamelani’s Wellness Programme. 

This is in line with a number of projects which took place around the globe to honour former president Nelson Mandela’s birthday and his 67 years of service to humanity.  People around the globe were asked to spend 67 minutes of their time to do something which makes a difference to the world around them.

The 67 container gardens will be receivedby women currently attending Mamelani’s Wellness Workshops, many of whom are unemployed. The workshop, currently in the seventh week of an eight week programme will present attendees with a spinach plant on completion of their course. The container preparation and planting took place at the Soil for Life resource centre on Saturday, July 18^th 2009.

Mamelani would like to thank Onsite Training (www.onsitetraining.co.za) for making the day possible, and for volunteering their time to join Mamelani and Soil for Life (www.soilforlife.co.za) in planting the seeds of change.

Please note that Mamelani will be moving offices on April 1^st 2009. Our new offices can be found at Wesley College, 20 Durham Avenue, Salt River. We are in room 7 and 8.

Our new telephone number is 021 448 2725.

We had AGM at our new offices on April 21st at 12pm.