Our courses are presented wherever they are needed. We prefer to go to the community that needs training rather than have them come to us. However, should that not be possible, a classroom is available at our premises.

Basic Business Skills

Includes:

• Basic Bookkeeping.
• Costing and Pricing.
• Marketing.

Craft Skills

Includes:

• Product development.
• Trends.
• Colour combinations.
• Marketing.

The craft skills we cover are beading, ceramics, sewing and related textile crafts, basket and wire weaving, recycled crafts, as well as a host of other craft skills.

We also present a morning workshop and we will help SMME's set up an email address and teach them how to use it effectively and safely. We will also show how to look up internet addresses on the Web and teach some basic search techniques.

Each delegate will get a copy of our bi-lingual booklet – Gijima/ Running which has helpful information about email and internet with useful addresses for SMME's.

This will be presented with eThekwini Website Factory, a Durban-based website development SMME.

Sizanacraft (‘help one another’) was initiated by Tracey Collier in March 1998 after the need for product development and effective marketing of the goods produced by self-help groups, job creation projects and survivalist crafters was identified.

Background History of Tracey Collier and Sizanacraft

Tracey was born in Kwa Dukuza in 1957 and spent most of her childhood living in Zululand. After teaching crafts on contract to various training institutions and non-governmental organisations, (Embocraft Training Trust and Paramount Training and Education Consultants and the Department of Education & Culture) she realized that the students were left to fend for themselves once the courses were completed. The artisans were ill-equipped to turning their newly acquired skills into money in their pockets and food in their stomachs.

She started Sizanacraft in 1998 with the aim of assisting the groups and individuals with marketing, product development and business skills. This training is not restricted to a set syllabus but is tailored to each crafting community's need and is continuously developing. Tracey teaches craft and business skills for the KZN Department of Arts, Culture & Tourism on a regular basis.

Sizanacraft operates from an office in Westville, Durban where Tracey is assisted by a small staff that handles administration and logistics.
Beside the business skills and product development training, Tracey also deals with production and distribution of crafts for selected crafters and cooperatives to established clients in the USA, Canada and Europe.

Timeline

2001 Ms Collier was part of the committee invited by the then KZN Department of Education and Culture that accessed craft to be sold at the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
December 2001 Exhibited at the Fiera D’Artigianato in Milan, Italy.

December 2001 to November 2002. Trained 2 groups of crafters for Sustainable Villages Africa at Rietspruit Mine, Mpumalanga. www.sva.co.za
December 2002 - January 2003. Participated in the Spier Summer Arts Festival.
July 2004. Exhibited at the California Gift Show.
June 2005. Exhibited at the US Council on Africa Conference, Baltimore USA June.
January 2006. Exhibited at the BTL Show, Lisbon, Portugal.
January 2006. Ms Collier nominated for the “Women of Substance” award by the KZN Department of Arts, Culture & Tourism.
August 2006. Exhibited at the Jerusalem International Craft Fair.
November 2006. Exhibited New York Gift Cash & Carry Show.
December 2006 - May 2007. Participated in the Spier Arts Festival.
January 2007. Exhibited at the BTL Show, Lisbon, Portugal.
January 2007. Exhibited at FITUR Tourism Fair, Madrid, Spain.
February 2007. Recipient of “Award for Excellence”, awarded by KZN Department of Arts, Culture & Tourism for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage.
July 2007. Exhibited California Gift Show.

January 2007. Exhibited California Gift Show as well as New York International Gift Fair.

February 2008. Tracey Collier was contracted to Unesco as a Regional Material Culture Expert for a needs assessment in the Msinga District

May 2008. Co presented income generating workshop in Johannesburg for the US Ambassadors Small Grant Program.

October 2008. Presented a workshop for UNESCO at the Tatham Gallery in Pietermaritzburg.

November 2008 . Led a delegation of crafters to exhibit at the Berlin Import Shop for eThemwini Metro and Tradepoint SA Durban.

Read press story here 

December 2008 . Curated and mounted an exhibition of craft from KZN at the Cultural History Museum in Potchefstroom.

January 2009 . Led a delegation of crafters to exhibit at The California Gift Show and Seattle Gift Show for The Dept of Economic Developement and Tradepoint SA Durban.

Makhosi Shoba - Production manager, Tracey Collier - the one who owes all the money to the bank, Dee Love - Administrative assistant