Gifted craft woman needs a roof over her products

KEABETSWE NEWEL
Correspondent | Thursday September 2, 2010 00:00

 

As for us the youngsters, we take pride in what our predecessors left behind as part of our culture.  Take a look at Tsodilo Hills and how much income they bring in through tourists.  The art left behind by a few now benefits the whole nation.

Of course, not all Batswana view their culture with appreciation, especially the youth; but for 37-year-old Mavis Johanah Maripane, culture is one thing she highly regards, more so that she makes a living out of handmade cultural merchandise.

I was left breathless as I entered Maripane's house in which elegant handmade plates, baskets, trays and flowerpots, all in elaborate African patterns, some of them sprinkled with sorghum grains. Curiosity consumed me.

 Even Maripane could not believe it herself when she narrated her story of success.  Her eyes were gleaming with delight as she told me that upon completing her Form Five, she started looking for a job and once worked as a cashier in a supermarket.

Not long after, she was left jobless, forcing her to start selling airtime (Kwik recharge).  She also sold clothes, which she imported from Petersburg in South Africa.  A cousin of hers staying in Petersburg visited a woman who created beautiful merchandise using empty boxes.

That woman became a source of inspiration to Maripane.  She then took to gathering 'useless' newspaper, mainly from government departments.

These she mixed with water to make paper mache out of which she made household ornaments with an African touch.

 She chose the colours of African soil, showing appreciation of our land.  'There is nothing more interesting than to be welcomed with a warm smile into an African home and be served food in a plate depicting an African scene,' Maripane said before turning my attention to a flowerpot filled with grass instead of flowers.

 This artist who hails from Motlhabaneng sells her merchandise at the busy taxi rank here.  She is elated that Batswana like her products and buy them at a 'promising rate'.

 'Even foreigners, especially white people, like my products and buy them in large quantities,' she says. 'I once sold my products to Italian and American tourists camping at Mashatu Game Reserve in the Tuli Block.

 Many do not believe that this woman, whom no one ever trained in the arts and craft that are her source of livelihood, is the one who makes the products.

'Even government departments and council offices like my products so much that they buy from me and their offices are decorated with my products,' says Maripane.  'The interior of places like the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) and the Francistown City Council (FCC) are decorated, thanks to my products.'

Maripane resides in Somerset East near Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital in Francistown.  She says inspite of the intricacy that meets the eye, it is easy to create her products. 'All I do is engage in this passion wholeheartedly,' she reveals.  'With love you can do anything. I love what I do and I take my time working at it.'

The materials she uses are found in nature.  For instance, she often uses seeds by pasting them onto her craft baskets and plates.

 She attended the consumer fair held at the Francistown Civic Centre on August 12.  Because of her outstanding creativity, she got First Prize for her craft baskets and Second Prize for paper mache flowerpot.  The same items were subsequently taken to Gaborone for the Botswana Consumer Fair.

Maripane's dream is to increase her economies of scale to the level of industrial production, creating employment for the youth whose idle hands are easy to turn to crime.

 She has theses ambitions inspite of her rather poor health, being an asthmatic.  'I do not do much when it is cold or windy,' she says. 'It could help if I operated under a roof.'  Another problem is that Maripane does not have a car in which to transport her products.