• Vuma has awarded first prize in its My Community Connects Competition to The Valley of Blessings.
• This non-profit organisation helps women upskill themselves, empowering them to leave abusive relationships.
• The R20 000 prize will be used to help fund sewing skills courses.

Vuma has wrapped up its My Community Connects Competition and awarded R20 000 to a non-profit organisation.

That NPO is The Valley of Blessings which empowers women who have experienced abuse. Through its facilities, women get access to a range of skills development programmes including computing and textile manufacturing. Popular course offered by the organisation include End User Computing NQF Level 3 and Clothing Manufacturing Processes NQF Level 1.

“This is my first time winning anything. I was overwhelmed. It’s an awesome feeling to know that each of our current trainees will be able to graduate with their own sewing machine thanks to this prize,” says Reverend Shelter Matsa, chief executive officer of The Valley of Blessings.

As implied by Matsa, the R20 000 prize will be used to help fund sewing skills courses for female victims of abuse.

The NPO was born after Matsa saw domestic violence climb during the pandemic. As such, the Reverend explored how to empower victims of domestic violence so that they could upskill themselves and achieve a level of independence needed to leave an abusive partner. In 2022, the course was registered and since then, those Matsa has reached have received an accredited qualification.

“Stories like Reverend Matsa’s fuel our company ethos, which states, Because we can, we must. Seeing a need in her community, she acted with determination and compassion. Even though the competition is now over, our work continues. We will continue to uncover and embrace all South African communities creating inspiring stories, and programmes that drive social innovation and positive change,” Taylor Kwong, head of marketing at Vuma said in a statement.

We hope that The Valley of Blessings is able to reach and assist even more women with this prize and that winning Vuma’s competition brings it some well deserved recognition.

[Image – Cornell Frühauf from Pixabay]