About Us

Widly African Crafts is an income generating project for youth affected by HIV and poverty.

The Wildly African Art shop is situated in Thembalethu Home Based Care Centre in Schoemansdal on the road to Swaziland (Matsamo border). It is the project of Youth in Action. Twenty youth from Nkomazi are trained to make the different kinds of art work.

This Company engages the youth in developing Small Micro Medium Enterprises(SMME). This creates life changing opportunities for the youth and empowers the local community to become self-sufficient. Wildly African also works as a skill development program in arts & craft by providing necessary training. It also networks with other organizations to market the products

Background:

In January, Art Aid began selection and training of potential artists and crafters in 8 art genres. 30 youth were selected out of 70 applicants. The genres selected included paper-making, sewing, pottery, fabric painting, wood-working, jewelry, wire-working and bead working.

The training lasted 8 months and the artists and crafters are now making the products sold in the Wildly African Tree shop.
A basic stipend was paid to the artists. Both food and transportation costs were paid on a daily basis.

The mobile arts and crafts training from the Department of Arts and Culture trained 38 people for two months in arts and crafts. These artists are now able to make products for sale directly to the public or through the Wildly African curio shop.