A group of formerly unemployed rural women at Khakhu-Makulemi village outside Louis Trichardt who had nothing to do have come up with a better way of using their precious time. They started the Tshanduko Land Care and Cleaning Project.

Started with 14 members just a month ago, the project is rapidly making an impact in the village. The project specializes in cleaning the village streets by collecting used bottles, cans, papers and all unwanted objects in the village. They also do cleaning at the local rivers.

The leader of the group, Rejoice Vele, said because of unemployment in the village, they used to roam the streets of the village with nothing to do. “Doing nothing tempts people into doing bad things, so that some of us ended up using our precious time for gossip, which sometimes landed others in deep trouble,” she said.

She said they had a meeting and the idea to form a project was born. “We could not just sit down as unemployed women waiting for handouts. We decided to start this project as a job-creation tool as we hope to sell our garbage in the future, which will provide us with an income,” she said.

She said they were also worried about the environment's being polluted with no one taking notice. “The whole world is speaking in one voice on climate change and global warming, which have a negative impact on our lives. We have a role to play in making our immediate surroundings better places to live in and our health will improve,” she added.

The group says they have collected a lot of garbage since they started and they are just waiting for the municipality to collect it. They made an impassioned plea to the government or any company to provide them with machinery or buy the waste from them. Those wishing to help the project can do so by phoning Vele at 083 732 5046 or 079 977 7737.