Teaching women to catch and sell fish
WHEN a crate of designer bras and panties from a national retail giant is off-loaded at the Clothing Bank in Quigney, Nolusindiso Falasi’s eyes light up.
The Duncan Village resident, who once depended on social grants and loan sharks to get by, knows she will make an excellent profit by buying the underwear for a reduced rate and selling it on.
Falasi, 29, is one of 90 women who have been benefiting from the nonprofit organisation since its East London branch opened less than a year ago, and thanks to its ingenious model of social entrepreneurship, her financial affairs are now under control.
“I have paid off the loan sharks. I don’t need them in my life anymore. I can buy food for my family and my mom is happy because at the end of the month I can even treat the family to a takeaway or games at Hemingways,” said the part-time student, who lives with and supports her granny, mother, sister and son.
“We would sometimes go to bed hungry, but everything is fine now.”
While Falasi, who sells at offices and hair salons, finds that good underwear sells well, other women have found markets for women and men’s fashion, children’s clothes and homeware, all of which are donated to the Clothing Bank by Woolworths, Edgars, Mr Price, Pick n Pay and Clicks.
The Clothing Bank was founded in Cape Town six years ago by former Woolworths finance guru Tracey Chambers, who knew retailers had inadequate solutions for clothing waste.
Chambers, together with co-founder Tracey Gilmore, have enabled previously unemployed women to generate profits of more than R38-million since the organisation began.
“I gave up the corporate world to use my privilege in a more meaningful way,” explained Chambers, who visited the East London Clothing Bank branch last week.
Her connections and understanding of the retail sector were the cornerstones of the poverty-busting NPO, which, in a nutshell, recruits motivated unemployed mothers, trains them in practical business and life skills, coaches and mentors them for two years to become entrepreneurs by buying and selling end-of-line merchandise and pocketing the profits.
“We are not just teaching women to fish, we are also teaching them how to sell the fish,” Chambers said.
The simple yet ingenious concept has worked so well that it was recently recognised on a global level.
The Clothing Bank was awarded the 2016 Schwab Foundation’s social entrepreneur of the year award at a ceremony in Cape Town recently.
The foundation is a “sister organisation” of the World Economic Forum. Just 11 organisations of thousands of nominations worldwide were deemed to have met the criteria, tucking a huge feather in the Clothing Bank’s cap and ensuring continued support from critical funders like the European Union, the IDC, the Jobs Fund, and the Old Mutual Foundation.
Run by Ron Begbie, who is always on the lookout for new recruits, the East London branch of The Clothing Bank is one of six operating countrywide.
Situated in a roomy warehouse in Quigney, it is filled with orderly racks and shelves of clothing and toiletry items, many of which are recognisable stock from some of the country’s most popular chain stores.
“Countrywide we receive 100 000 items per month from retailers,” Chambers said.
It may be the newest branch, but it is also the top performer in terms of how much women are earning.
“It is doing amazingly well. We are getting the right calibre of women here. They understand there are no handouts here and that they have to be self-motivated to change their lives and be prepared to work hard to get there. It often takes time to get the trust of a community and for them to see that this is not just another charity or quick fix.”
Bearing this out are the figures. They show that since it began less than a year ago, the women have made a R1-million profit, outstripping profits made by women in branches in big centres like Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.
“The objective is that each woman should earn at least R4 000 per month,” Chambers said. The average earnings of our East London women are R4 459 a month. This project works,” Chambers beamed.
It works not just because women are given access to buy high-quality discounted stock and sell it to their networks and communities at a markup.
It works because successful applicants are taught and mentored to take responsibility for their own financial health, as well as the health of the project as a whole.
Women volunteer at the warehouse for a month to learn the ropes and undergo personal management and business skills, and, once they are on a roll and selling, are still obligated to spend one day a week carrying out warehouse tasks.
“We open boxes, receive clothes, debrand them, fold and hang them and keep the warehouse clean,” Falasi said.
Women are also trained in basic book-keeping and are encouraged to save.
“I had nothing to save before, but now I am paying off my debts and I am saving to educate myself.
“The reality of my dreams depends on my ability to save. This is a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity for me,” said Noloyiso Tyiki, 33, who specialises in selling homewear to her customers.
“My son is in a better school now. I can afford to send him to a boarding school that costs R13 000 a year and I have moved from a backyard shack to the Quigney.”
Money-saving is also the objective of Amalinda mother-of-two Nomawethu Mboyiya, 34. “I had a lot of debts at clothing stores. My kids were suffering, but I know how to budget now and I am starting to save.”
For some women, like Andiswa Bakada, who made R7 000 in her best month, the Clothing Bank has been such a life-changer that emotions bubble to the surface in the form of happy tears.
“I didn’t have a cent before, but now I am a happy mother who can afford to pay school fees.
“I was so depressed before but now I feel free. It is so amazing, this place.”
The average earnings of our East London women are R4 459 a month