“Use your hidden talent to put food on the table”

“After searching for employment and failing to get a job, many people would rather sit at home doing nothing than creating a job for themselves.”

Seasoned potter Thomas Ndou was in a reflective mood when Limpopo Mirror visited him at his studio at Mashau village last Friday. He is an established potter whose brand name TT Ndou is known throughout Limpopo and abroad because of his beautiful porcelain and ceramic products.

“I know times are hard for us people if we are not working,” he said. “But then some people just sit in at home with magnificent talents. They need to tap into those hidden talents and creativity and see what will happen.”

He explained that he had noticed his artistic talent at a young age, when he was at school. “When our teacher gave us an assignment to mould creatures with clay which we had dug from the river, I would amaze the teacher and other pupils with my realistic cows, human figurines and birds,” he recalled.

In 1977, he realised that he needed a bigger space for his creativity to benefit him financially. So he went to Johannesburg and enrolled at a pottery institution. “Soon I had mastered the craft and was enlisted as a mentor,” he said. “After some time, I got a job as a potter, but when all those big companies that envied my skillfull hands started shutting down business, I saved some money and bought some second-hand machines from them.”

The machines that he bought included an oven, a potter's wheel, and some moulds. He returned home to rural Mashau and opened a ceramic products shop and talent-transfer centre. “At TT Ndou Pottery and Training, we offer training to both youths and adults,” he said. “Our products are also on sale directly to the public.”

Ndou has so far travelled to Namibia, Cameroon, Zimbabwe and the US. “I have sold my work in many countries,” he said. “However, South Africa remains my home. I love this country because, even when we have a lack of job opportunities, we can still do something with our hands and get the necessary support from the government. You can look how hard I work - pottery helps me to put food on the table.”

TT Ndou Pottery and Training employs three adults and a youth from Mashau village. “We also give regular odd jobs to unemployed youths,” he said. “Our biggest challenge is that we stock ceramic and glaze material from Vereening,and without proper transport, we end up losing a lot of money instead of earning commission or profit.”

Those interested in getting more information about TT Ndou Pottery and Training can call 082 973 7563.

Date:14 May 2016

By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

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