BY MAINE LIVETT
ISLES MEDIA FREELANCE REPORTER IN GIZO
MOTHERS main concern is to make earns meet to sustain the livelihood of their families, such as to put food on the table daily, and meeting their children’s school fees and other basic necessities.
For that obvious purpose a lot of women hustling day in day out to help shoulder family obligations, as well as for their communities.
We often seeing many of them on the roadside, and along the streets in the urban centers. They’re utilizing little public spaces striving to earn income.
Western Solomon’s capital, Gizo Town is also where a lot of mothers are selling food stuff on the street, they’re known as women market vendors in the past years.
Now the group has changed its name to Gizo Women Initiative group (GWIG), as the groups Treasurer Florence Maelalo explains the purpose remains the same, “to earn money to support our families and for school fees.”
Not only that, women are consistent contributors in their communities in general.
Ms Maelalo speaking for the group acknowledge the New Zealand Government through a negotiation by a former advisor for Western Province, Bridgette Nicholes (late) from New Zealand and a former Member for Gizo Ward in the early 90’s. GWIG now owned a café in the center of Gizo town, small space for women to do business.
The Café named after late Brigette Nicholes, serves fish n Chips, chicken menu and juices best for lunch hours.
Maelalo recalled most of the founders of the group have gone already, they’re the venders who had faced the challenge of selling their food products on the street, leading up to the establishment of the GWIG.
She recalled founding mothers had gone through the experienced of being removed from the street by Police officers, which she said, according to the direction from ministry of Health and were ended up in police stations.
Maelalo said, challenges remain as there’s not enough space to accommodate venders and customers are also scarce. She said, another challenge now is the deteriorating state of the small building.
She pointed out, members of the Initiative group facing competition with market vendors selling same food products in the main public market.
She said the Covid 19 pandemic has also affected the group as members experiencing drop in their sales compared to past years before the pandemic.
“Covid 19 also affected us, she said. We are not flow with our sales, people don’t have money, so it is affecting our market.
Ms Maelalo joined the group in 2019, and appointed as treasurer last year 2020. She recalled, she was young and did not have the interest to joined the founding mothers when they hustled to make earns meet on Gizo’s streets in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
She said, with late Nicholes and the former MPA’s assistance the women already have had the chance and land space for expansion; however, the group did not fully utilize that.
“I wish I involved 10 years ago, she said. “to quickly find ways to expand, and help educate the women to plan for expansion”
“Now we’re thinking of asking the province to give us space for expansion, she added. Maybe to build upwards.
“One problem with those who occupied the café before, was that they’re not educated, while educated ones were in and out but have not the heart to expand it” she added
“Registration of the group was done recently in 2019 with the help of a lawyer who contested for the Gizo Kolobangara seat during the last by election, he registered the GWIG as a legal body for free.” She recapped
The GWIG also acknowledge CAUSE Project for helping out in installing a fence. The treasurer said the café also improves with installation of cash power, to include ice cream in the café.
One of the remaining founders of the GWIG, Ms Joy Pitisopa said, they’re first employed by “white men as house girls” when they started vending on the street, selling cooked food, started at a dollar per plate. She was employed by late Nicholes.
She recalled her group started with a dollar and moved up to two dollars, and had found their earnings better than what they’d got from their employees, so they left their housemaid job and continue with their street market.
She recalled a health officer, who had advised them on certain health standards, on food handling. “we followed what the health officer told us” she remembered.
The grandmother said, one of their main goals was, for their children to have good education, and now she said, from their striving on street they had supported their husbands, to help their children acquire qualifications in various fields.
Not only that, but they had also used their earnings to built their homes, as well as contributed towards community programs.
Featured image (at the top): Two members of Gizo Women Initiative Group chat inside the Bridgette Nicholes cafe. Photo: Supplied.
