The latest unemployment rate is 25% according to statistics South Africa with almost 30% of the work force having little or no skill. Prochorus is responding to this through skills development projects. This has enabled many people to find employment or have equipped them so that they can manage their current business.

Isipo Se Nkosi (Thank you, God) sewing group started in the Jonkershoek Valley with 2 women, who wanted to provide a better future for their children. Two years ago, Sylvia and Florence began with a few pieces of scrap material and a simple act of faith. Today they have a self-sustaining business. The biggest order to date was making 2000 Infinity scarves for the Awaken Women’s conferences in 2014.

Another great story is about a lady who forms part of our Early Childhood Development (ECD) teacher training project. This project currently equips the principles of about thirty ECD centres with crucial skills that help them to effectively run and sustain their business.

At the Likamuso crèche in Kayamandi, Diketso, the teacher who took over from her mother made such a transformation of the centre that it could hardly be recognized as the same place. She took ownership to an extent that she used the income of the business to plough back into the business to make it more beautiful and to be better equipped for helping the children. She even recognized that some of the children who came to her centre was intellectually disabled and needed to be sent for special care. Although this meant she would receive less income, she was able to make a responsible decision regarding the welfare of these children by keeping their future in mind.

by: Jacomien Scannell