Saga Charitable Trust
Peoples Community Centre
The Peoples Community Centre, just outside the town of Pennington, is an upliftment project which through local pastor, Brian Hopf and his wife, is really helping to empower local communities.
The Saga Charitable Trust funded the land for this project which will eventually house skills training in various trades, such as cement block-making, bricklaying, welding and plastering, as well as computer classes, a cookery school, literacy classes and a sewing co-operative.
Many Saga guests are familiar with the sewing co-operative, which was previously part of the Jabula Saga Project. Now in its new location, but still under the watchful eye of Lillian Hopf, this continues to help unemployed women support their families through making and selling handicrafts. Women are enrolled onto a 9-month training course where they are taught to sew and also make articles from the most basic materials (such as discarded carrier bags)! At the end of the course, students graduate and receive their own sewing machine and start up pack of materials, so they can work from home and sell their products through the centre. There are now over 300 women in the co-operative who have not only learnt new skills and a means of supporting their families, but a new sense of pride and self-esteem in themselves.
Courses are also taking place in cement block making, while those in plastering, brick-laying and other building skills will be underway soon. The computer classes are proving to be very successful and there is now a waiting list for these.
It is wonderful that this project and the various facilities are now coming together on the new site and that the Peoples Community Centre is well and truly up and running.
