My name is Simon Mathibe, I live in Mochudi, Boseja ward. My leg got amputated in 2003, when a mysterious illness befell me, the doctors didn’t know what the cause for my sickness is. I live with debilitating pain. I live with my sister who also has a disability, she is an amputee and helps take care of me because my mobility is limited. I was married in south Africa and got divorced in 1982, I have 2 adult children who live in south Africa.
I went for a leather works training in Kanye from 2005-2006 as a beneficiary of the poverty eradication program. We were taught how to carve and make different leather products like sandals, shoes, bags, hats etc. using both machines and hands. I can carve wooden spoons too. I went back for another level of training in 2017. I usually use cow leather to make my products, I buy the leather from a shop called Morongwa in Gaborone. It takes me a day to make 5 pairs of sandals and 3 days to make a closed shoe, that’s if I have all the materials available.
I can make one pair of shoes and a small bag using just 2 meters of leather. I use makeshift needles to sew my products, sharpened wires to puncher the leather and thin wires to connect the pieces.
Simon Mathibe
