SEWAFRICA

My blogger friend Erin in Canada was inspired by the story of Mogkadi, my fashion designer friend in South Africa who is hoping to go to school to learn to sew. Erin is herself rather crafty and is donating some of the income from her work to Mogkadi's school fees. Tomorrow, Mogkadi will visit a sewing school in Pretoria to see what their fees are and compare them to the school in Joberg that she has already visited, SEWAFRICA.

Mogkadi draws three or four new designs every day and writes these great notes in the margins, stuff like "I know God will bless me and I am patiently waiting" or "Thanks to God for my love of Art and Fashion Design." Faith and patience were the main themes of her writing. It was truly inspiring and somewhat heartbreaking to look at her sketch pad. There is no sign of discontent, just a patient longing for her dreams to be realized.

Mogkadi grew up in the rural Limpopo province and moved to Pretoria area to live with her aunt and look for work. She was making about $0.63 an hour as a checkout girl at ShopRite until some union people threatened her and she had to quit. The union workers are on strike and she was working as a replacement. So now she is hoping to go to school so she can bring her designs to life and earn enough income to support her mother and little twin brothers who still live in Limpopo. She also wants to help her father who is living in a shack in Pretoria and looking for work. Her brother Kholo lives with their father while finishing up high school and hopes to join the military next year so that he can work as a police officer or security guard in the future.

This family opened their home to me, fed me, and loved me during the last half of my stay in South Africa. As Christians we often call each other brother and sister. I wouldn't let a thousand bucks stand in the way of my biological sister's dreams and I hope I can be a brother to Mogkadi in this way as well. They have already blessed me and proven their generosity in spite of having so little (house budget for 6 people - around $250/month), and the issue now is one of reciprocity.

UPDATE: I have been requested to put a donation button up, so here it is! Go crazy!