TOURISM has been devastated by Covid-19. The impact has many tentacles, reaching out and affecting different communities and conservation projects.
Apart from a very limited relief fund of R200 million for BBBEE-compliant hospitality and tourism organisations, there has been little or no assistance to this sector.
Predictions are that the sector won’t open up much before the end of this year, with some saying tourism will not be up and running again until early 2021.
For a group of seamstresses making mascots for the Community Conservation Funds Africa (CCFA), a registered NPC which is both a fund-raising and grant-giving organisation, it has meant that almost their entire earnings have dried up.
As a means of making ends meet, this group of women has now gone from making mascots to making masks.
For every mask purchased, one is being donated to Livingstone Hospital.
Melanie Laing of Baby Cuddles said, “I am blessed to have been given the opportunity to work with a team of very talented, wonderful women who are always happy and full of smiles, no matter what life throws at them.
“This time life threw them a pandemic but, as with so many South Africans, we have turned this situation around and are now making mascots into masks.”
Laing said that their aim is to produce at least 600 masks a week. “The work will bring in an income to help fund and assist all nine of us in the company and our families during this Covid-19 crisis.”
Di Luden, executive director of CCFA, explained that the masks will be sold in packs of two.
“They are R50 each (R100 for two). We are taking orders via our website and the orders will be shipped directly from the group of seamstresses to the client. We are appealing to corporates to support this initiative which will not only protect them and their employees but be a method of survival for a small group of women and their dependants in Kylemore,” Luden said.
The masks are available in the following categories: men, women, and children (ages 3 to 12).
To order online visit www.ccfa.africa or e-mail info@ccfa.africa.
