The Amazwi Villager

Written By Lydia Ngomane

A customer entered the Phulavusiwana Project. “I just burned my new t-shirt yesterday. I don’t know what went wrong. This is the first time I burned my clothes,” she said, pulling a t-shirt from her handbag. Selina Mogwena was sitting in front of her machine, busy sewing a blue school uniform.

Selina, 58, started to work at Phulavusiwana in the early 90s. Phulavusiwana used to be a group of fifteen woman, but only two are left; Selina is one of them. She learned to be a tailor at school a long time ago while she was in standard three. “Needlework helped me a lot at school. That’s when I realized that I could do something with my hands,” she said, smiling. The talented woman is making different kinds of school uniforms, such as tunics, skirts, gowns and jerseys. She fixes trousers and dresses, and she makes curtains. All these things are done with the sewing machine that she uses.

Before Selina became a tailor, she used to sell tomatoes and avocadoes. “I used to carry a big basket on my head and knock on door after door when I sold my fruit,” she recalled. Selina got her start when she heard that there was a meeting at the government offices in Thulamahashe for people who wanted to do tailoring projects. “I woke up at 2 a.m. and walked from ka-Zitha to Thulamahashe because I was willing to be on the project,” she remembered. The Gazankulu Development Corporation took her to Pretoria for training to get a certificate in tailoring. Selina’s life was hard at first because she was a vagrant; she didn’t have a place to stay. Selina walked everyday from ka-Zitha to Thulamahashe because of the passion that she had. She wanted to achieve her goal of becoming successful. Selina said that sometimes, when she got tired of walking down the road everyday, she just slept inside her working apartment. But now Selina is a resident of Thulamahashe.

It’s easy to see that Selina’s business is going to go very far. If you enter her workplace, it looks like a shop selling a variety of clothes. A man entered her shop holding his trousers and said, “These trousers are too small for me. I’m gaining lot of weight.” Selina quickly replied, with pride, “Just come and pick up your trousers at five; you will be pleased.” The man put his pants on top of the table with a smile and left. Selina also makes aprons for parties, weddings and funerals. She also sews party dresses and rents gowns to people who are graduating. She charges each person R100 per day. Selina is encouraging other women not to sleep with an empty stomach; they must think of something in life to make a living. Because of Selina’s successful tailor business, Selina has managed to send all of her kids to college. Now, they are all working. “I have been trying to save some money to build my own house, and I’m now looking for sponsors to donate some machines for my business,” she concluded.