Community-based enterprises

Two women’s craft groups aim for financial independence

Several women’s groups making quality craft products in various indigenous communities across the country have been developing their skills and use these as a complement to their traditional fishing and farming activities for generating income.

One such group is the Moruca Embroidery Group in Region One. This is a community-based enterprise and is located in the village of Santa Rosa. The group was formally established in January 2007, but most of the women have been working together for the past five years.

Headed by Jean Rodrigues (Aunty Jean), the Moruca Embroidery Group, comprises women from the Santa Rosa and Waramuri communities. They produce hats, bags, pillow cases and tea towels embroidered with emblems representing the local flora and fauna of the North-western region, especially of the four species of sea turtles that nest at Shell Beach. The group is also engaged in the production of embroidery by local women, including classes for young girls in the art of embroidery.

Guyana Times Sunday Magazine spoke to Rodrigues, who said she was doing embroidery work to get money, which is not a lot but helps in covering certain expenses. Later, she decided to get other women from the community together to form a group.

Rodrigues has lived on Green Island for 58 years now. The island is located on the right hand side on the way up to Santa Rosa; her father had bought it from a man named Green, hence the island’s name. She added that she lives there with her husband and daughter-in-law. Her children, who were schooled in Georgetown having benefitted from the Hinterland Scholarship Programme, continue to live and work in the capital city.

Without farming and fishing, Rodrigues said, she would not survive. Once, the community was awarded a contract to make 300 bags, and that brought in much needed income. “The group was much larger; now we just have about 6 members. This is due to the fact that we don’t get contracts now. I sell within the community and send to my brother in Shell Beach. Younger generations from that area have moved to urban areas seeking better jobs. On the island only the older generations reside there now. If we get more contract work that will be good because it will guarantee a sure income and I can always encourage the other women to come on board and they will be willing, especially when they see we are making money,” she mused.

Some women from these communities have husbands who depend heavily on fishing at Shell Beach and unfortunately also engage in illegal sea turtle meat and egg harvesting. Sea turtle by catch is a growing problem in the area. Providing Santa Rosa and Waramuri women with commercial opportunities is a means of promoting an alternative income into the home of these fishermen, and one that relies on promoting sea turtle conservation rather than exploitation.

The Moruca Embroidery Group is working closely with the Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society (GMTCS) to help ensure that sea turtle conservation is achieved by engaging local indigenous communities in alternative income projects to sea turtle harvesting. This project is also testament to the role that the women can and are playing in developing projects and solving local problems for the benefit of the local communities and the environment.

All items are individually designed and stitched by the women of the Waramuri and Santa Rosa communities. Rodrigues has been appointed product quality manager, and inspects every item to ensure quality design and stitching before items are placed on the markets.

Una James, from Waramuri, said the women’s group there sells their work within the community and to visitors when they are in the area. They also depend mainly on fishing and farming for survival. James works with the RDC in Waramuri, and receives a stipend which she said helps in covering some of her expenses.

Now 68, she said the group of women came together five years now as a means of using their talents in acquiring income for their households. She noted that there is a health centre in the area with a doctor who now resides there, so health care is available. Generators are used to provide electricity, but generally life there is simple and quiet.

Similar to the request from Rodrigues, James said they need more contract work so that their work can be sold.

Kamuni Women’s Handicraft and Sewing Development Association

Another talented group is the Kamuni Women’s Handicraft and Sewing Development Association located in Region Three. They started after the community nurse saw a need to develop a small enterprise, since a few ladies would usually make and sell their craft to the visitors or tourists arriving in the community. The ladies would normally sell the craft at the boat landing to the visitors. The nurse lobbied for some assistance, and eventually received help from Futures Fund to build a craft facility. The association was formed with approximately 20 members who were able to operate from their own building to display and sell craft to the visitors.

The association has members from Santa Mission, Aratack Mission, and a few residents located at both ends of the creek. The members display and sell craft items, and teach and train younger women to do standard and quality craft work. The association aims to improve the lifestyle of all members through constant training and involvement in major exhibitions. It also aims to provide employment and training for women in the community, and provide the opportunity for women to become independent, and to assist in financing their home economy.

The association is well managed, and functions by following the constitution of the association. Decisions are made by a Committee and not by one person alone. These decisions are then filtered to members through quarterly meetings, where members are also allowed to give their opinions. A ten percent tax is deducted on each product sold. This tax allows members to be granted loans when necessary, and also an emergency fund is provided in case any member becomes sick. The association provides lunch when necessary, and assists members to take part in educational tours. It also supports the school and other activities, for example, the Amerindian Pageant, on an annual basis. The association received external support in 2002 in the form of a grant of 1.5 million Guyana dollars, which was used to build a benab/craft centre. In 2005, the Poor Rural Communities Support Services Project (PRCSSP) funded the building of two washrooms and a store room, and provided sewing machines, solar panels, the utensils for teaching home economics, and a computer.

Each item at the craft centre is tagged with a number. A book with names and item numbers attached to it is used to check whose item was sold, and a percentage of the sale would be given to that person.

These groups are pleading with other communities and companies for more contract work.

Products are sold at the Iwokrama International Centre head office in Georgetown for those who are interested in supporting these groups.