A team of 14 women leaders has started a new skills training project to empower women on Taveuni island.
Over the past year, the Taveuni Empowerment Women Support Group (TEWSG) has been providing training in beekeeping, floriculture, handicrafts and backyard gardening to women from various communities across the island.
Read more: https://womensfundfiji.org/skills-training-empowers…/
Skills training expands livelihood opportunities
Beekeeping is one of the new income-generating activities offered by the group. Under the project, 6 women have received basic beekeeping training along with the equipment they would need to produce honey: bee boxes and beekeeping suits. The training was provided by Atrul Nisha, a professional beekeeper and fellow TEWSG member who has been encouraging other women to take up beekeeping. Nisha is a pioneer in her field, having been the first woman in Fiji to win the Beekeeper of the Year award.
Josephine McComber, one of the trainees, said that she had gained the confidence to look after the bee boxes and could now identify the different types of bees. She added that besides the honey produced from beekeeping, she would use the beeswax in her screen-printing business. She plans to donate her first harvest of honey to the group to support their activities.
Floriculture training was also provided to 13 women, who received materials and assistance to build tunnel shade houses and greenhouses for their plants. Additionally, 12 women underwent training in backyard gardening, focusing on sustainable farming practices. They were also given garden tools and seeds to help them expand their home vegetable gardens.
In the handicraft training, the participants learned new skills like weaving yoga mats and creating rubber stencils and woodblocks for screen printing. They also learned the traditional art of printing on masi, a type of bark cloth made from mulberry trees, which was a first-time experience for many of the participants.