FEATURED ARTISANS

Things have changed a bit for Jabu Mdlovu. When she holds a magazine, rather than looking for stories which will convert her into a superior woman, she looks at the beautiful and colourful pages which are likely to be transformed into breath-taking designs.

She was fast to admit that after reading her magazines she would throw them away not knowing that they can be so useful. “I was never into handcraft. When I grew up I always wanted to be a nurse because my mother was a nurse”.

Jabu is now zealous about handcraft. She says handcraft is the future of Swaziland. It empowers so many local women and it will be given full acknowledgment in the near future. With the low employment rate in the kingdom she wishes that young women would venture into handcraft and forget about making themselves up every morning and looking for office work. She says, seeing someone wearing a product on a magazine makes her proud and that she takes that page and shows it to the ladies at the workshop. With the artisans she also shares the emails she receives from satisfied customers appreciating their good work.