The 55-year-old is able to raise his family of seven thanks to his pride in his culture and his resolve to use it to make ends meet.He carves wood to make mortars and pestles (Kika and Motshe), which he sells for P150 per piece. It would appear as if carving wood, which only started as a hobby, was Thoilo' destiny.Like many of his contemporaries, the Molepolole man used to make clay kettles, pots and spoons, as pottery was one of the popular games in those days.He also played another game called Rwabi where a stick is made to ride on a specially designed grass.He and his peers would compete for supremacy where the best was determined by who would make the stick travel the longer distance.But while enjoyed playing with other boys often interrupting his games with some moments of traditional dance, Thoilo just found the lure to copy from his late grandfather irresistible.
"My grandfather was a very good wood carver. He could produce an assortment of pieces from home utensils to sculptures and more. So I would always find time to sit besides him while he did that and tried to copy," he told Arts & Culture.Because of his interest, it was then easy for Thoilo to master the art. That motivated his grandfather to give him more chances to practice starting with small pieces."As I grew up I started making my own pieces. What really motivated me was that I used to help my grandfather sell his pieces and we would make good money. At the time a mortar cost around P3 but if we made P30 on a single day that was good money at the time," he said. Although his grandfather was a lot imaginative as he displayed a high degree of creativity in his work, Thoilo is modest about his own skill. He has confessed that while his old man could make wooden animal sculptures he can only manage useful objects like pestles, mortars, stools, spoons and buckets.
