28 Jun 2018

Thamaga youth are expected to benefit from a pilot training programme at Thamaga Pottery on a re-development phase, in partnership with the De Beers Group Of Companies.

In an interview, Thamaga Pottery manager, Botlalo Keipeile said they were currently running a six-month training programme on pottery design, technology and production with potter teachers and design ceramists from South Africa and Europe.

She said training started on the June 4 and would run until end of November and only Thamaga youth aged between 19 and 35 were enrolled.

Keipeile said it was their first time to conduct such training, through which they had enrolled 11 trainees to learn how to get creative with clay and discover their inner talents.

She noted that they wanted to empower the youth with pottery skills to enable them to have the relevant expertise and join the organisation in future.

“The training is going as well as anticipated; our trainees have shown keen interest in the programme,” she said.

Keipeile said even though the learners were leaning pottery for the first time, they were coping with their work and had been able to comply with the syllabus.

Although, the training is going according to plan, she said they had faced challenges such as importing clay, which takes some time to arrive, which delays their lessons.

She however, noted that if their training becomes successful, they would embark on a project to teach trainees different ways of decorating their products to make them more eye catching.

Keipeile thanked Thamaga community and veteran potters for their continuous support to the organisation.

Thamaga Pottery is a community project for Bakgatla-ba-ga-Mmanaana and has in the past been ran by local potters.

It is now divided into three sections; training laboratory, production room and a shop, which sells all the pottery products and also displays artistic works made by the community. ENDS