Rundu clay pots feed families, educate children

Two brothers have spent almost 30 years travelling to Windhoek to sell their handmade pots

Sipapo Sakaria never went to school. He says that is why he has never had a job in a corporate office or anywhere else with a qualification requirement. What he does have is a skill he learnt as a child, and it has fed his family for almost three decades.

Sakaria and his brother, Mpepo Johanness, are from Rundu. Every two months they make the journey to Windhoek to sell clay pots at Game Shopping Centre, to provide for their families.

“I didn’t go to school, I don’t have any qualification to get me a job in corporates or anywhere, so we learnt how to make these pots at an early age through observation from our elders at the time. We learnt the skills which have helped us provide food for my family,” said Sakaria.

The business came from his parents, who introduced him to pot making.

Money for food and school fees

For the brothers, the pots are more than a trade. Johanness said the money from sales goes to feeding their families and paying school fees for their children.

The work is costly before a single pot is sold. Sakaria said the process begins at the river, where soil must be sourced, brought home and left to dry before any shaping starts. The men who dig the soil have to be paid.

“It’s a whole process making these pots, because first you have to go to the river and source the soil, bring it home and dry it for a while before the work starts, which takes up money as well because the guys digging the soil for us need payment for the job as well,” he said.

Transporting the finished pots to Windhoek costs about N$3 000. However, the brothers make the trip themselves as Rundu has fewer customers.

“We have to fork out money and pay transport fees to bring the items to Windhoek. At least in Windhoek the place is diverse and there are always customers looking for these types of items,” Sakaria said.

According to Johanness, it takes about two months to sell out their stock in Windhoek.

Fence has cut into sales

Business has always had its good and bad days, Johanness said, but it has become harder in recent years. He blames a fence erected by the owners of the shopping centre.

“Business goes well, sometimes not okay, just depending on the days. But now things have gotten worse because, before the owners of the shopping centre erected a fence, we would sell our stuff right there and customers would support us, but business has gone down after the fence because our business isn’t exposed. We are more like hidden where we are and I think that has slowed down how fast we sell these things,” he said.

The numbers have gone down. Johanness said that when they started, they sold up to 10 pots a week. Now they sell only two or three.

“Now we have to take our stuff and walk around town till a potential customer comes to you, then you tell them that you have other stuff at Game Shopping Centre,” he said.

Despite slower sales, the brothers keep making their trips, because the families who depend on the pots still need food and school fees. – [email protected]

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