Julia Gomachas, originally from Maltahöhe in the arid south of the country, was the first craftswoman to join the Sew Good group. The incredible patchwork designs on the project’s bags are the result of her creativity and skill.
The ‘Sew Good’ Community Project Text Mel Kelly
One Stitch at a Time
A group of Nama women, who live in the Windhoek suburb of Otjomuise, came together in mid-2019 to form ‘Sew Good’. The community project is aimed at addressing the growing challenge of environmental pollution in Namibia by sewing beautiful products from upcycled waste materials. REDUCING OUR RELIANCE ON PLASTIC Most people now recognise that we all need to adapt our lifestyles so that, as far as possible, we steer clear of the plastic bottles, wrappers, bags and containers that we use just once and then discard without much regard for the consequences. Recycling, at best, is a compromise: recent investigations have shown that across the globe some of the plastic waste that is separated by conscientious consumers for recycling in fact ends up contributing to pollution ̶ cynically by being transferred to landfill sites or dumped at sea by the very companies commissioned to process it. The large South African retail chains operating in Namibia commendably stock a range of alternatives to single-use carrier bags. But these products are only rarely made by Namibians, and some in fact represent a ‘greenwashing’ exploitation of the eco-friendly ethos since the production of certain bags-for-life, canvas bags and paper bags is at least as damaging as the infamous alternative (albeit some are eventually biodegradable).
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SEW GOOD: MAKING GOOD BY DOING GOOD Women with sewing skills launched a new community group in Windhoek in June 2019. One of Sew Good’s aims is to create genuinely Namibian alternatives to the various eco-friendly products already available. The project uses sample books of glorious fabric to make sturdy, long-lasting shopping bags as well as a wide range of other household items. The high-quality fabric remnants that they upcycle come from luxury design studios. When lines are discontinued as decorating fashions change with the seasons, the shops generously donate their wallpaper and fabric books to be transformed into a growing range of stylish products, rather than letting them go to waste. By repurposing the swatches of textiles into hard-wearing items the members of the group are able to make a sustainable income in economically challenging times. They are also developing useful planning, budgeting, marketing and promotional skills that will help them to become self-supporting eventually. The Sew Good group sells its stunning, tough shopping bags at the Zero Waste Store in Stein Street, Klein
