BY JOY OFASIA
“I wish to have a better space to improve my little home tailoring business like most tailors do, instead all this time, I work at home taking orders from local clients whenever they need me to sew their clothes,” shares Lucy Maau, a woman tailor.
Dependent on the business for survival, Lucy Maau fears a lack of government support will threaten her tailoring business as COVID-19 affects the country.
Even now her small tailoring business is not the same as in the past. Local customers bring their orders to be sewn into clothes from a small working space at her home residence at Vara Creek in Honiara.
Lucy is one of many women tailors in Honiara who are very passionate about the tailoring business over the past decades. She realized the great potential of her tailoring skills especially after unlimited orders from customers continued to increase in the phase of the pandemic.
With more than 20 years of tailoring experience, she started sewing clothes at her residence. Soon enough, she became a well-known tailor producing new clothes and mending old ones. Supporting the daily needs of her family, her small thriving business meant everything to her.
She was taught the basics of sewing from her mother at a very young age.
Women like Lucy will need all the support that can be provided to them to survive the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the already struggling urban population of Honiara.
Ever since she started her business as a tailor, she never had a proper and convenient space to do her work as other privileged tailors do.
“I urged the government to support local tailors around the country by providing a space for all to come together to work as a team to make garments.
“I think the government should create a factory for local tailors in the country.
“A factory that will employ local tailors in the country; and give opportunity for them to earn money for a living and contribute the economy in such challenging times.
“The establishment of a textile factory will limit the country’s importation of clothes and increase the country’s growth on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on the economy.
“If other countries can do it why can’t we do the same,” she told Solomon Women.
Small-scale entrepreneurs like Lucy are now under the threat of financial outcomes from the impending health crisis.
A regular customer of Lucy’s tailoring business, Christina also supported the call for the government to support all local tailors in the country.
“I admire the talented work of Lucy; I have seen the garments that she created and I hope our government policymakers and leaders will support the owners of vulnerable tailoring businesses in the country,” she said.
