Save the Sheep was launched as a way to raise funds for farmers affected by the drought. The little shop is filled with Karoo inspired crafts to raise money.
Sutherland, South Africa (16 January 2020) – Sybil Visagie, a sheep farmer in the Karoo, joined her husband on a fodder run back in November 2017 and was struck by inspiration. Just a month earlier, their farm had been the recipient of a potato donation which helped to sustain the sheep and farm workers for one extra month.
The drought affecting Sutherland left the farm struggling and nearly devastated it. The Visagie’s were not the only ones left feeling the stress of the drought. Speaking to Sybil, she told us that farmers are very proud and struggle to accept handouts, but with the drought being so bad they had very few choices.
So, while she was on the fodder run with her husband, she started to crochet a little sheep. She decided that she would gift the crocheted sheep to the person that had arranged for the life-saving potato donation. In this way, she was able to balance out the donation in a small way. Along with it, she wrote a note that said: “I’m alive thanks to you!”.
The gesture inspired her to start a small charity to help struggling farmers. Because her community is mostly made up of sheep farmers, she called her charity “Save the Sheep”.
Sybil invited a few of the farmers’ wives to join her in crocheting sheep. It blossomed into an empowering project that saw the wives earning small incomes from the sheep, enough to help them keep their farms and start to recover from the effects of the drought.
Today, ‘Save the Sheep‘ has united communities across the Karoo and provides a very real way to keep alive. The charity became so empowering that Gift of the Givers donated wool to the project to assist the farmworkers’ wives as well!
Sybil stresses that the drought doesn’t only affect the farmer, it affects the farmworker just as much. Jobs are put at risk when the livestock cannot be kept alive.
Sybil invited the farmworkers’ wives to attend workshops and using the donated wool, the women started weaving beautiful carpets. These too started being sold through the charity and earning an income for the women making them.
A farmer even got involved and created special needles to help the women weave their carpets. Every person involved in making the sheep has now found a new way to save their farms, farmworkers and livestock. Instead of taking handouts, the farmers’ wives are now able to support their families.
One woman has become the talk of South Africa thanks to her giant crocheted sheep. Magriet Serdyn (pictured above), a gifted retiree, has been donating her large sheep to the charity so they can fill up their fodder fund. She does this out of the goodness of her heart as she has seen firsthand how some farmers struggle.
The charity shop has grown to include so many beautiful handmade crafts, all of which represent the Karoo in some way. The money from every item sold goes back into the community. A fund has been set up that allows Sybil to host fooder weekends where farmers who are struggling, are invited to collect much-needed food for their sheep.
What started out as a simple thank you has turned into life-saving, community empowering opportunities. If you would like to support the farmers and farmworkers, you can visit the Facebook group here where all their sheep and Karoo products are sold.
Or you can contribute to their BackaBuddy fund here, this fund is used to feed the sheep and provide for the community. Their drought projects currently include:
- Providing farmers with fodder to feed their animals
- Drilling project to provide farmers with drinking water for human and animal use
- Solar pump project supplying farmers with solar pump systems to get water from boreholes
- Tank Project supplying farmers with water tanks for storage of water
- We run an emergency pantry, to provide food to farmers in need.
Lastly, if you would like to chat with Sybil about doing more, she welcomes all calls and messages. You can contact her on +27 71 256-6796. Sybil recommends you pop her a message prior to calling as sometimes they don’t have signal on the farm.