Penduka Village keeps rising

ON the banks of Goreangab Dam in Katutura lies Penduka Village, a self-sustaining non-profit organisation providing training to low income and women living with disabilities.

Penduka, which consists of two departments – production and hospitality – was formed in 1992 by Namibian Martha Muulyau and Christien Roos from the Netherlands.

Muulyau, who had to undergo multiple surgeries and learn how to walk again as a result of polio, met Roos at Ehafo, an organisation providing aid to people with disabilities.

Production manager Victoria Hailapa told that their hospitality department consists of a restaurant – providing traditional and international foods – and accommodation.

For accommodation, they have bungalows, a backpacking and even camping facilities available. They also have a venue suitable for conferences, parties and weddings.

According to Hailapa, however, the production department, where everything is hand-made, is where most people find themselves.

Production consists of bead making from recycled glass, embroidery, sewing, pottery and even batik. Batik is the art of dyeing cloth using a mixture of flour and water to create patterns.

Hailapa added that women who want to work at Penduka must go through an application process.

“They apply, then they are invited for interviews,” she said.

While Penduka, which means ‘wake up’ in Oshiwambo and Otjiherero, receives support from organisations such as the Turkish embassy who regularly buy products, they are self-funded.

“We are not dependant on funders. We just depend on ourselves, just working hard producing what we can,” said Hailapa.

She explained that the income they generate from the restaurant, accommodation facilities, conference venue and the shop all goes back into the village, in addition to being used for salaries.

Loide Mwanyangapo, who is in charge of quality control, showed the storeroom where materials and other sowing equipment are kept along with orders of items that need to be transported to Germany.

A German tourist company regularly orders products from Penduka to give as gifts to clients, but Germany is not Penduka’s only international client.

Foundation Penduka, located in the Netherlands, supports Penduka Namibia by acting as the European distributor for products and by providing marketing, product sales and development advice. Penduka also regularly exports products to South Korea.

Mwanyagapo further stated that while many women work on the site, they work from home as well. The women will then collect the materials they need from Penduka, complete the product at home and finally bring the finished product back to the village.

As Mwanyangapo was showing the different work stations, she mentioned that the three women making beads from recycled glass were hearing impaired and only communicate through sign language.

The making of glass beads starts off with the collecting of glass materials that are cleaned and all labels removed. The glass is crushed into splinters that are then placed in a casting mould and melted in a clay oven.

After about one and a half hours when the glass has melted, the mould is removed and a small hole is drilled in the centre of the beads. They can then be decorated and polished before they are used to make jewellery.

Besides using the glass beads, they also use old magazine paper that is varnished and small rubber tubes to make jewellery.

Another employee, only identified as Ndati, who has been working in the pottery department for almost a year now, said she loved her job and working with her colleagues.

“We are like a family,” she said.

Ndati explained that the process of pottery making starts with the mixing of clay powder, water and a bit of acid. Thereafter the pots are baked at 1000°C and decorated once cooled down. They are then dipped in a water solution and go back into an oven to be baked.

She added that the drawings depicted on the pottery bowls are not simply to make the bowls look appealing, but are replicas of life in a village, from making mahangu to caring for livestock.

Today, Muulyau is a teacher in the north of Namibia, but still assists Penduka groups, while Roos returned to the Netherlands where she is still part of Penduka Netherlands.