November 2010

Posted by admin in Blog on 11 17th, 2010 | one response

I had our group Christmas card photo taken on Monday and had to pull out some Christmas decorations to get into the spirit. I cannot believe it is that time of the year again, 2010 has been a peculiar year, it almost felt like it never got started, but of course it did. Once the World Cup ended no one really knew what to do with themselves. It was fabulous, but short lived and the bumper spending spree we anticipated did not materialise, so we went back to our looms and got back to work.

There is still plenty to do before we close – completing our orders, stocking the shop for the holidays and making sure everything goes out on time.

This is our traditional holiday season when all our staff take their leave for a well deserved five week break, we reopen in late January, before the schools reopen – to allow time for school fees to be paid and pupils to be registered. Local life is dominated by this. We have begun a staff savings scheme which secures funds for schooling, it should preclude the panic which usually accompanies the start of a new year. Education is fairly cheap in Swaziland until the children reach high school and then it escalates to the point where difficult choices have to be made.

We begun the year with the death of Sylvia (d. 25/02/2010) who was a founder of the company and a mentor to us all. She is still very much with us, and we try to emulate her attitude: be positive; persevere; and don’t cut corners. We have got one young weaver (Phindele) started this year and another (Sitakele) is to follow early next year. We also have a new dyeing understudy, probably the most critical and difficult area of production, who has begun. It is exciting to see these young women take shape and learn a little more every day. Weaving allows a fairly instantaneous result, so it is easy to see progress, we are carried along by so much experience from our senior weavers, but the mantle is finally being transferred and it is is not as scary as I thought it would be.

I am so looking forward to 2011 - our Mohair South Africa collaboration will get exposure early on in the year which will provide early feedback and hopefully a good reception. I feel as though 2010 has been a difficult year business wise and am pleased it is nearly over. 2011′s orders have already begun – an excellent sign of the busy and productive year to come. Fortunately holidays are first!