NKOSINATHI
Sewing for the equality of blind children.
The Nkosinathi Foundation for blind and visually impaired people was founded in Port Elizabeth in 1948 and has since been committed to people with visual impairments in the Eastern Cape Province. The organisation's goal is to open up paths to a self-determined life for blind children and adults through training, rehabilitation measures and targeted qualification programmes. The Foundation relies on a holistic approach that not only imparts skills but also strengthens individual self-efficacy. In this way, social exclusion and economic disadvantage are actively combated.
Blindness can affect anyone, regardless of origin or circumstances. However, for families already living in poverty, visual impairment has a particularly serious impact. Most of the families that the Nkosinathi Foundation works with live below the poverty line and have limited access to education, healthcare or employment opportunities. In this context, the sewing programme makes an important contribution: it creates real prospects for low-income households and helps to overcome barriers that make active participation in society difficult.
The Nkosinathi Foundation's sewing programme aims to strengthen the social and economic independence of blind and visually impaired children and their families. The focus is on providing practical training to family members – both sighted and visually impaired – to enable them to become professionally qualified to set up their own sewing business or find employment in the textile sector. The programme not only teaches 50 participants practical skills, but also entrepreneurial thinking, which makes it easier for them to enter the formal job market and paves the way for a stable income. While the parents or guardians attend the training courses, the children receive on-site care from a specially trained professional as well as an introduction to computer programmes. Funding from the Lemonaid & ChariTea Foundation makes it possible to provide scholarships for the participants, procure materials, maintain sewing machines and cover the trainers' fees on a pro rata basis.
Terry Hattingh
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