Geraldine Lang is one of a kind. She is one of our students, a member of our organisation for 4 years and has chosen to be a life-long sewing learner! She has lost the number of classes she has attended and loves every minute of them. We are so thankful to have her with us!
Geraldine retired in 2016 after working for 22 years as a hair stylist in Athlone. Born in Athlone, she moved to Bonteheuwel when she was 9 years old and has been living there ever since. She married and had 3 children with her husband who has since passed away. Shortly after retiring she came across a Yes We Can article on Facebook, this was just after YWC had started up, and decided she needed to up her skills in the sewing world as the only thing she really knew how to make were curtains! She initially started sewing lessons at the Samaj Centre, in Rylands, and continued the lessons at Rylands Public Library until Covid decided to put a stop to it! YWC lent Geraldine a sewing machine to use at home, but this she has recently given back to the organisation as her daughter very kindly gave her a new one!
Having always been a very generous and loving individual, she has brought up 3 of her grandchildren under her roof, and loved every minute of it, not to say it hasn’t been difficult at times, but she wouldn’t change it for the world. She is more of a giver than a taker and this shows in the gifting she makes when it comes to aprons for soup kitchens, or knitting baby jackets for hospitals or bed socks for the elderly at the old age homes. She even gifted YWC a brand new iron, so needed during our sewing classes. She is very generous with her time too when it comes to helping others during the sewing classes, Geraldine offers her assistance to the students (even though she is still a ‘student’ herself!) during the sewing classes, remember, she has been attending our lessons since 2017! Her wardrobe is full of her own creations (watch video below) and she also spends lots of time creating garments for her family.
This enthusiastic woman also became part of the mask making factory team during the hard lock down and made so many masks, she has lost count! She loves making aprons (and especially loves it when gifting them to those in the community who are less fortunate than her), computer bags, book bags and bottle bags as a break from mask making, but will certainly continue producing them should large orders come in and her help is required! Her daughter is a teacher and Geraldine has practised making and perfecting the book bags and bottle bags for her, and of course her daughter is very proud to be showing off her mother’s wonderful creations around her school!
Geraldine is one of the lucky ones to be participating in the Computer Course with the Cape Town Clothing Bank branch together with the YWC team. She had never been too interested in the computer world and never used one before, however, after 3 lessons she is seeing the positive side to learning this new skill.
“Our lecturer is young, patient and good! I am getting to grips with the computer and can’t wait for my next lesson. All the students on the computer course are really happy and excited to be learning something new and gaining more knowledge from this course”, says Gerry, as she is lovingly called by everyone. She is always eager to lend her assistance and has already helped her fellow student sitting next to her on the course with a few tricky issues! Her daughter also very kindly bought her a laptop so now she can do lots of computer work and practice from home. They are busy installing Windows, Excel and everything else that is needed on a laptop. It is very exciting and good news! It’s wonderful that family members are working together to make life easier for each other whenever they can do so.
“Life would have been very lonely and a little quieter without Yes We Can South Africa Foundation. So many opportunities have opened for me since joining this wonderful organisation. I am able to communicate and donate to those less fortunate in my community. I believe YWC prevented me from lagging behind in life and has kept my brain very busy which in turn also keeps me healthy both physically and mentally! Our classes are my play dates, my woman’s club and therapy for my soul.” says Gerry with a wide happy smile on her face.
Thank you so much for being part of our organisation, Gerry! We truly hope that you know that we adore you and appreciate your support all this time. This is a journey and a good one to be on with you!