Living in the big city of Port Moresby can be very challenging especially in trying to earn an honest income just to put enough food on the table to feed a household.
With the hassle and commotions going on, rise in crime, and with all the civil incidents occurring daily in a typically fast-paced city life; and especially with the COVID19 pandemic cases increasing in the country, life is waiting to fall apart if we allow it to.
However, this has not been seen as an obstacle for two persevering women, Heni Arua and Manoka Gorogo.
Heni, (51) and Manoka (45) who both hail from Porebada Village in the Central Province are business-minded and creative when survival matters; they use shells found along the beach collected on an Island called Haidana back in Porebada to create very stylish pieces of accessories, home decorations and art and craft.
Manoka said the task is daunting especially with the process of collecting shells and cleaning them which take so much of their time.
“We go to the Island to collect the shells, which are kept in the water overnight. The next day the shells are buried in the sand and after a week of being buried, we take them back to the sea for a final rinse then the next day the shells are heated with the sand on fire to give off a shiny look. Then, after they cool off, we wash them and make holes using the darts”, said Manoka.
The talented duo with help from their husbands and children have created basic accessories like Hair Bands, Head Bands, Earrings, neck pieces and also have created house decorations like Macramé’s, Door Hanging pieces, Flower Vases and Wind Chimes all carefully crafted from shells and creatively sewn together.
Heni and Manoka started their ‘Wokabaut Business’ back in 2011 but due to personal reasons, they took a recess. Then business came alive again in 2016 and has continued till present.
“We would usually leave the village in the morning with all our products to sell and would usually walk around the city selling our items from as low as K5 to K100 depending on the item we are selling”, said Manoka.
Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the days scheduled to create the accessories and on Thursdays and Fridays are the days they walk around to sell their products. Even though Heni is over 50 years, she said that giving up is not an option for her right now.
“My husband and I are very keen to continue engaging ourselves in such creative activities and whatever income I get from the sales helps buy much needed basic items for my family and I”, said Heni.
Heni has four grown up children and five grand Children whilst Manoka has six kids and two grand children and are usually invited to attend Women Fellowship Programs in the village and around NCD to showcase their skills and to teach and facilitate training and teaching programs.
During most of the Women’s Fellowship programs around the city, the women are usually invited to showcase their skills by teaching young women in basic sewing of shell bags and how to create the littlest things using shells.
Big occasions in the village and in NCD like craft markets, village feasts and church-related programs are the main avenues that the women showcase their talents and sell the fruits of their hard work.
So far Heni has contributed a good amount on the Bride Price of her elder sister’s from her hard work since she started her little business and she is currently looking forward to helping out in another bride price.