View From The Stalls Blog 6 - Proudly Home-made.

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 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


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