30-year-old Moses Joseph from Vakuta in the Trobriand Islands of Milne Bay Province, has had a passion for arts and crafts for as long as he can remember. His specialty lies in paintings and craft made out of coconut shells.
Moses officially registered his business about a month ago under the name ‘Moseph Innovative Crafts’ and sells a number of hand-made crafts including, coconut earrings, coconut flower pots (with and without plants), mini coconut candles and paintings as well.
At present, Moses operates from his home at Tokarara where he makes the items and delivers to his clients.
The idea of starting a business came about when Moses couldn’t find a job quickly after graduating from university in 2015.
“After completing my studies at Uni, I couldn’t find a job for a very long time so I thought to myself why not do something and work at your own time.”
Moses added that being the eldest in the family, his motive was to provide for his stay-at-home mum and for his family.
Moses who lost his father in 2018, suffered deeply from stress and depression as he recalled his father being the most favorite person in his life. It was then his sister and aunt encouraged him to move on by building something for himself and that was making different forms of crafts.
“My sister who also has a page on Facebook called ‘Migileu’, encouraged me to go to the POM City Markets and my aunt who was really supportive of me, also encouraged me to look past all these struggles and do something for myself.”
“I finally decided that I will eventually have to start standing on my own feet again and so took on the challenge of establishing a business and building it slowly but surely.”
“It has been a month now since I officially started doing business and I am looking forward to the journey that awaits in the SME world,” Moses said.
Moses added that it is a wonderful feeling to have people who appreciate the work you create and do and who support your endeavors.
His advise to young people is to find out where their passion lays and pursue them to create something for themselves which can help sustain them in the long run.