izandla zethu means ' our hands' in the isiXhosa language.
Our hands are made to move and create things...
About our project
A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE WITH RESPONSIBILITY
After visiting my cousin Jonas Schumacher in South Africa – the founder of Masifunde – I felt a desire to pass on my craft knowledge and encourage young people. Thus began my passion project, which continues today as "Masisebenze – Let us work": a social enterprise that opens up opportunities for young people and promotes education.
How you can help
Visit us in Walmer Township
or simply come to our izandla zethu workshop as part of your masifunde visit during your South Africa trip in Walmer Township, Gqeberha.
There you can also buy jewels in the MyMito Café with the best coffee and healthy snacks.
Become part of our community
With your financial support we can enable more young people to receive a training.
The “Spende” button takes you to the masifunde donation page. There you can enter or select any amount and type of donation. Please enter "izandla zethu" in the title and your support will be provided directly to our project.
Current impressions of our work
Some of our mile stones
2022 From Pallets to Pro Benches
... Our Workshop Makeover
. During my three-week visit in April 2022, we worked tirelessly – day and night – to completely renovate our workshop. The goal: to provide our trainees and our trainer, Phelelani, with a professional and inspiring space equipped for high-quality craftsmanship. Five brand-new goldsmith benches were handcrafted by a local carpenter in Walmer Township, using recycled wooden pallets. We also added high-quality, ergonomic chairs to support focused and fatigue-free work. A major highlight: a solid new workbench built for future forging and welding work – safe, stable, and ready for real hands-on training. Despite the short time frame, we even created a small new jewelry collection – made from brass found at the scrapyard and recycled bottle caps. These pieces not only expand our design and technical portfolio but also aim to attract new customers with their unique story and aesthetic. Our vision remains unchanged: 👉 To one day fully fund the training of our trainees through the sale of our handcrafted jewelry.
2020 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OBJECT IN SA
... an unexpected honor and appreciation
. In February 2020 - at the beginning of the Corona pandemic - izandla zethu was announced as the winner of "The Most Beautiful Object in South Africa" award at the Design Indaba Conference with the simple, handmade DELICATE bangle from our collection. What a special moment, what a surprising appreciation... This gave us a lot of new motivation to hold on to our dream - to help young people recognize the emotional value their hands can create... Since October 2020, Phelelani has been our new, dedicated trainer and good soul at izandla zethu.
2019 OUR NEW WORKSHOP
... with new ideas for marketing and sales
. In 2019 we were able to restore and set up a larger, more solid workshop and design the outdoor area. But it was also time for a change, a farewell... We said goodbye to our first team, which really did pioneering work for izandla zethu. Among the three new trainees was Phelelani, who has been our new dedicated trainer at izandla zethu since 2020. During this phase we further improved the quality of our products, looked forward together and placed an emphasis on marketing our handmade jewelry. A special highlight and a key step towards achieving our goals was that some of our first trainees were given the chance to start goldsmith training at Port Elizabeth College in Gqeberha. ... and since the end of 2019 izandla zethu has also been a registered trademark.
... and a truly exceptional team
2018 OUR FIRST WORKSHOP
. Two months after our first workshop, I developed a unique jewelry collection made of corrugated iron and provided a comprehensive training program. Together with my husband Karsten and a small team of experts from masifunde, we set up the space provided by masifunde as a fully equipped, minimalist and safe goldsmith workshop. With the first, very committed four-person trainee team, we then began to apply our training concept and were able to very quickly determine what worked and what didn't... what tools and materials we still needed... and what was still missing. In the team, one of the participants, Luvuyo Pongolo, quickly developed into a real talent. He literally soaked up information about craftsmanship, methods and sales - what a blessing. His enthusiasm for the project quickly led to the joint decision that he would take over the training of the future trainees. Unfortunately, Luvuyo passed away far too early in April 2020 at just 35 years of age. Luvuyo will forever remain an inspiration to us and we hope that his enthusiasm will inspire equally ambitious souls in another world.
2018 izandla zethu is born
... a vision, a workshop, a project, a name
. My second visit to masifunde, where my daughter Noemi Zoé supported me, was organized in a jewelry course for interested young, unemployed people at masifunde and we were impressed by the talent and commitment of the participants. In the final discussion after this first workshop, we decided together: WE'LL CONTINUE In a brainstorming session, we quickly found a suitable project name... It's about working creatively with our hands and 'our hands' is called IZANDLA ZETHU in the isiXhosa language. We spontaneously found a suitable logo through the handprint of Thabo, Jonas' son... and on closer inspection, we came up with the idea of depicting the African continent in the palm of the hand.
2017 HOW IT ALL BEGAN
... a visit to masifunde and my desire to start a heart project
. After visiting my cousin Jonas Schumacher, the founder and managing director of masifunde, in Walmer Township, Port Elizabeth in December 2017, I was so impressed by their work with children and young people that I wanted to realize a dream of mine - right here and with these people: To pass on parts of the knowledge I have acquired over decades to young, interested people. To give them the self-confidence and courage to exploit their potential, for example to create something lasting and valuable with their hands.
