The Fiji Occasions » Girls grateful for the training alternative

The Academy for Girls Entrepreneurs (AWE) program was launched in 2020 by the US Embassy and up to now, 300 girls entrepreneurs have been educated in and graduated from this system.

Since its institution in 2020, this yr was the primary time for a summit to be held for the alumni of the AWE from Asia and the Pacific in Malaysia from March 6-9 with seven members of the AWE Fiji Alumni attending the occasion.

Small enterprise entrepreneur Lanieta Marama was one in every of these girls and he or she described her time on the summit as being very fruitful.

Ms Marama operates her enterprise from residence and he or she specialises in quilting, embroidery and display screen printing, amongst others. She began her enterprise – Delai Design – from residence with assist from her husband and 5 kids.

“I acquired my stitching and tailoring certificates from the Makoi Girls’s Vocational Coaching Centre after which I began my very own enterprise in 2019.

“My enterprise took off through the first wave of COVID and I did rather well when it comes to receiving orders from my clients each native and abroad,” she mentioned. Ms Marama was later approached by the coaching centre to affix the AWE program and he or she agreed.

“I graduated from that program too after which I centered extra on advertising my enterprise on social media.

“I used to be in a position to create a superb buyer base and now I obtain orders from individuals abroad.” Ms Marama mentioned she made certain that her kids had been happy with the household enterprise and knew the way it labored.

“So now all my kids know the best way to function the three overlock machines that I’ve at residence.

“Once we obtain an order, I do the patterns and minimize the designs that are then sewed by sons and my daughter irons the quilts and I do the ending work.”

The household bought a car from the revenue the enterprise made.

“Now we’re in a position to make use of our car for deliveries and transportation.”

Ms Marama mentioned she was grateful for the chance to journey to Malaysia for the summit and to be taught from different feminine entrepreneurs about their challenges, successes and the learnings.

“This had been an important alternative for me and the opposite girls entrepreneurs.”

Seruwaia Kabukabu of the Naitasiri Girls in Dairy Group (NWDG) was additionally a part of the delegation that went to Malaysia for the summit.

Ms Kabukabu mentioned the NWDG began in 2016 and the group had 40 members – girls from the villages Serea, Waidracia, Nabaitavu, Taulevu, Vuisiga and Wainiqarua settlement in Naitasiri.

She mentioned the summit supplied them with an important platform to community with different girls entrepreneurs and to share their tales.

She shared that the group was working to amass some land to construct a paddock for his or her dairy farm.

“We have now 45 cows and half of them are prepared for milking.

So as soon as the paperwork for the land is accomplished, we’ll construct a bail in order that we may begin milking the cows and promoting them in order that we will pay our members,” she mentioned.