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Flora Fadzai Sibanda
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PEGGY Masuku from Ward 25 in the Matobo district is fulfilling her dream of wanting to be an architect and being able to create beautiful designs.

She said growing up, she loved drawing designs with accurate measurements and putting them together to create something meaningful. That is why she did not hesitate to join the My Beautiful Home competition in her district and accepted the new “From Huts to Pots” project with both hands.

Peggy is one of the 26 women who were painting their pots yesterday at the Orange Elephant in Bulawayo ahead of the Pots Project that is being launched today by the Germany Embassy in partnership with Ekhaya Gaia.

She said she draws her designs using a ruler and a pencil so that she can have a shape with correct measurements.

“Drawing with a ruler is important for me because, not only do I get clean and straight designs, but I feel like I’m living my dream of being an architect. I enjoyed designing my home and when I heard about this pot project, I was eager to join it and here I am today.

“Moving from designing homes to pots has been really good yet so challenging because pots are smaller and have a shape so they need discipline and a smart person, otherwise you might ruin the whole process,” she said.

Peggy officially started painting in 2014 as she pushed to realise her dream of drawing designs.

She said the painting has also emancipated her economically as a woman because the experience she has attained over the years has helped her make money. Recently she was in Victoria Falls painting the walls of a local hotel there after they saw her work on her Facebook page.

“Apart from the economic benefit, this has given me self esteem as a woman because my husband now sees me as an equal at home because he knows how important I am. I’m proud to be from Matobo because painting using ash, mud and many other environmental resources has not been easy but here we are today painting pots and thinking of exporting the pots so that we can make money for ourselves,” said Peggy.

The project is meant to make the women’s work accessible while establishing a sustainable enterprise designed to improve and uplift their livelihoods and that of their families.

The Orange Elephant is venue far from the noise of moving cars or people hence allows the women to concentrate on their designs.

The trees are effortlessly moving creating the perfect breeze while birds make their usual noise as if to entertain the women as they work on their perfect patterns.

People visiting the café nearby occasionally stop for a few minutes to ask what is happening.

The head of Cultural Affairs at the Germany Embassy, Katrin Simon said the idea of the project is to bring out the beautiful designs of the Matobo women which are not known by most people, including those in this region.

She said the transition of working with the women from the huts, the Buddy Bear to the pots earlier  this year, has been amazing because not only have they showcased their culture, but they have shown how diverse they are yet very united.

Katrin said she will be taking the bear popularly known as uTshomi to Harare and hopes it will serve as an ambassador of the women at the Embassy.

“These designs have a story to tell and our aim is to promote all the artists that are doing this.

Hopefully, it will be able to create an interest. The pots are even easier because I’m going to take some to Harare so that they can be sold and it can become an income-generating project for these women,” she said.

Katrin said they bought the pots for the ladies and their only job is to decorate them and make sure they look authentic and unique.

She said if the pot project does well, they might be exporting the pots soon.

“Next year, we might be concentrating on fashion because not only are these designs timeless and beautiful, but they are also unique. I know they’d make a statement. Should the women manage to make clothes and bags, they will make a statement, especially here in Bulawayo,” said Katrin.

The workshop co-ordinator Sikhulile Hlongwane said this is the second group they are hosting and she is happy to be working with the group.– @flora_sibanda