Water shortage stalls Ellis' dinkgwana project

BOITUMELO KHUTSAFALO
Staff Writer | Friday August 17, 2012 00:00

About 20 years ago, Ellis started a dinkgwana manufacturing project at Magodiri cattle post at the Kanye periphery. Her aim was to manufacture these cultural storage items and sell them both locally and internationally.

The project has since been suspended because of water shortage. At the time the project started, Ellis had employed 22 women and five men. They were fetching water about 10km at the time everyday until she realised that she was not going to cope. 'It is a very sad situation because that project was labour intensive.  It created employment around that area and people were working within the vicinity of heir home villages,' she told Arts & Culture. She also said the project used to attract even the foreign tourists who came to witness the manufacturing of one of the items that define the olden Botswana. 

Following challenges of having to fetch water from far, the United States Embassy in Gaborone provided funds to Ellis to reticulate water. 'All the pipes were laid in 1997 but up to now we are still to have access to water. I have spoken to the Water Utilities people and they have promised to assist. It is only that they seem to experience water shortages in the area at the moment,' she said.

'We also used to have bus loads of school kids and took them through the steps of manufacturing these dinkgwana. That has since stopped but I am still hopeful that the project will one day take off again,' she said.

Ellis is now based in the United Kingdom and sells Botswana's traditional items among them baskets, batik cloths, dinkgwana and diphafana. She buys these items from other Batswana and sells them abroad. She even buys some of the items from some women she used to work with, who have now resorted to manufacturing dinkgwana at their homes ever since the project was suspended in 2007.

Having to sell the items in Europe also has its challenges but Ellis is willing to continue and hopes that she will eventually overcome them. 'The main challenge right now is that I do not have a permanent place where I can put these items up for sale. I take advantage of exhibitions by going there to showcase the items and selling.

These traditional items do attract a lot of admirers but it is difficult when you do not have a permanent place where they can come and buy,' she said.  She said she is working tirelessly to find a place.