It is not easy to create your own business, especially for people living in the township. However, there is no shortage of ideas and matched with hope, tenacity and the belief that you can change things, an idea can sprout into something. But ideas often need a little help to turn into profit-generating and job-creating businesses. The answer is found in collaboration.
Bags4Bread is one such emerging success story from our very own Kayamandi township. Click here to read more about the initiative and how you can be a part of it.
Next up in our Bags4Bread superwomen stories, is Gcobisa Sigwayi. Gcobisa hails from Idutywa in the Eastern Cape but has called Stellenbosch home for more than 13 years. Gcobisa was trained by Portia herself – read Portia’s interview here.
Read on for Gcobisa’s superwoman story.
Visit Stellenbosch: Please tell us your name and where you are from. And how long have you been a Stellenbosch Local?
Gcobisa Sigwayi: My name is Gcobisa Sigwayi I am 34 years old and was born and raised in a small town called Idutywa in the Eastern Cape. I have been living in Stellenbosch for the last 13 years.
VS: Who taught you to crochet and at what age?
GS: Portia, one of the leading ladies of the Bags4Bread initiative, taught me at the age of 34. You can read more about our lovely Portia here.
VS: How does the Bags4Bread project help you support your family?
SG: It helps me a lot to put food on the table for my family and fulfill some other things I need to take care of.
VS: How does this project help the community?
SG: It truly changes people’s lives for the better, little by little. This initiative helps those in need, especially in poverty, to give them hope and a better chance.
VS: What message do you want to leave with the readers to encourage them to bring their bread bags?
SG: Please donate bread bags, we want to change people’s lives. It helps the community to put bread on their tables, to change their lives, to change poverty, especially the youth. It can change a lot of people’s lives. The smallest donation can make a big difference.
