Russell Chitanda
Russel was a primary school teacher for boys and girls for seven years when his family  left Zimbabwe. He studied art in college; he started at T-Bags in the fall of 2006. His very fine artistic ability is already apparent and he paints extremely beautiful intricate designs.  He’d like to see T-Bags grow as a business.

Nicholas Ndaba
Nicholas knows the entire T-Bags production line, from drinking tea to marketing the products.  He usually explains the production process to tourists tourists when they visit the workshop.  Through talking to one of these customers, Nicholas was invited to Switzerland in the fall of ’06.  T-Bags has changed his life; he is passionate about what he does and says that, as T-Bags grows, he “also grows on the inside.” 

Nomsa Ndabambi
Nomsa was able to buy a house because of the money she earned through T-Bags. She did not miss one payment. She has three children: two older girls who do well in school, and a young boy who is due to start pre primary school in January, having won a scholarship. She raises the children alone for much of the year because her husband works underground in the Johannesburg gold mines. He has done this dangerous work for nineteen years.  Nomsa’s painted tea bags often feature “dot” designs and they are much admired in the United States.  Her mission is to help Jill because Jill has helped her so much.

Sweetness Ndebani
Before she came to T-Bags, Sweetness sewed pillows which she displayed so tourists could buy them.  The trouble was that if no one bought a pillow – which might happen for weeks – there was no money.  She also worked as a char (housekeeper) just “to keep the children’s mouths open.”  The very modest proceeds from the sale of a pillow bought only one bag of corn and two bags of beans. At T-Bags, she makes enough to buy electricity for the shack she rents and her name is “on the list” to buy a house.

“You know what this job means to me?  It gives me a life.  In the past, I was praying and praying and praying – they say don’t give up praying…God will send you somebody who will lift you up from the dust to the light.  God sent me Jill Heyes”(project’s founder).

Donnah Pezola
Donnah (who shares a birthday with Nelson Mandela) grew up on the Transkei, the countryside in South Africa. Her opportunities were extremely limited, but Donnah  married a man who could give her “possibilities” and they moved to the city of Cape Town.  She worked as a maid and in 1998, six years after apartheid was officially abolished, she had a son.  Her husband became increasingly abusive; eventually she left him.  Donnah was one of the original five T-Bag artists and she is a leader in the group. She makes and sells the T-Bag jewelry  and manages the Waterfront Shop.

T-Man Vava
T-Man came from the Eastern Cape where his 4 sisters and 4 brothers still live.  He worked as a gardener when he first came to Cape Town, and still gardens two days/week and works at T-Bags 3 days/week.  He sends money back to his family as well as supporting his own family of a wife and three children.  He likes the people he works with at T-Bags where his favorite thing is to apply cork to the coasters and tea pot stands.  He has only recently started to paint and his work is stunning.

Medika Zilwa
Medika’s been painting since the early days and has painted (literally!) thousands of tea bags. She has grown from being quite timid, to a self-assured and immaculate artist with a beautiful smile who contributes much vocally at T-Bag meetings. She is a single parent; her 4 ½-year-old son, Siyauuya, already knows how to empty tea bags; indeed, he cries if he’s not allowed to help.

Medika has discovered many previously unknown talents and become a leading figure in the team.  She worked incredibly hard to take her Metric exams: in the evening she studied, cared for her son, and painted T-Bags, and then worked in production at T-Bags during the day. Medika has watched T-Bags steady growth, and she says, “who knows where it will be in five years?”

Additional T-Bag Artists:
Agnes Chikoko Mhome
Cathleen Hill
Elaine Hendricks
Gracious Dube
Akhona( Lucy) Rafu
Nomphelo (Mavis) Bambalaza
Peggy Pretty Mongwe
Rachel Musariri
Bongani Ndaba