View From The Stalls Blog 6 - Proudly Home-made.
View From The Stalls 6
Proudly Home-made:
Had
the occasion to visit a church bazaar the other day, a sort of Spring-inspired
event that the congregation had planned and executed as a welcoming gesture for
their new pastor. Now, I’m a sucker for bazaars of any kind, and the chance of
home-made fudge being on offer was just too much to ignore. The church hall, by
the way, is a mere 150 meters from my home. Lucky me!
Turns
out I was in luck…very good luck! There were at least three aunties who made
fudge and coconut ice. Now, with my sweet tooth, or shall I say sweet teeth,
all resistance crumbled, my defenses just shut down. Folks, I was captured. And
like some politicians did to our SOE’s, I literally cleaned them out.
But
the thing that really peaked my interest was that everything on sale was home-made.
From the sweets to the cakes and biscuits, from the embroidery to the toilet
sets, from the wooden toys to the braai stands, every item was lovingly made by
these unsung heroes of the informal economy. There was a three-foot high rocking
horse on sale. The architect, retired cabinet maker named Oom Willem had
constructed it over a period of two years in his garage. Every line, every
contour, even the expression on the face of the horse magnified its maker’s
love and devotion to detail. How does one put a price on such talent?
A
variety of self-cultivated plants took up pride of place at the entrance to the
hall. Along side it, beautiful flower arrangements made into bouquets and
wreaths. Speaking to a rather sprightly senior lady who appeared to be standing
guard, she proudly assured me that she, without anyone’s help makes them, and as
long as she had her health, she would continue making those amazing
arrangements. At aged 83, the income from sales not only supplemented her
pension, but allowed her to visit her granddaughter in Australia recently. What
a beautiful soul.
To
amuse the kids, there was a guy who had brought his horse and buggy and charged
five rand a trip around the block. Talk about novel ways of creating an income!
Now if Oom Willem had the luck of Geppetto who created Pinocchio, he might well
make an equally good living from his wooden horse!
Get this! there were two young ladies who were doing hairdressing and haircuts. Wow! speak of being entrepreneurial. I departed the venue with a great sense of pride and amazement at the skills and determination of these self-made micro businesspersons. But hey! this is what we do. Catch you on the rebound….
~ By Q-Squared