From Unemployed to Employer
Rosebill Satha has a mind for business, an eye for opportunity and a passion for giving. So it is no wonder this 29-year-old Malawian business woman was named 2013’s Most Promising Young Entrepreneur by Under35CEO, an Africa-based organization that promotes youth entrepreneurship. But life hasn’t always been so easy.
Satha faced an uncertain future in 2005. Unemployed, with two young daughters and a husband homebound with an injury, her situation seemed hopeless. But she refused to be defeated. With skills in traditional weaving techniques and her business acumen gained from previous work in the tourism industry, Satha rose from this uncertainty to establish JARDS Products, an eco-friendly social enterprise that sells artisanal, hand-woven bamboo products.
She explains: “With little else to do, I started weaving baskets at home for friends as wedding gifts, a skill my mum taught me at 14.” Soon those same friends started to place basket orders and the demand became more than Satha could handle alone. She began training other women in her community in weaving skills, and currently employs eleven people and trains 35 youth annually in weaving and entrepreneurial skills. Satha often outsources JARDS’ biggest orders to the women that she’s trained. “I tell them how many items I need, and I ask them how many they can make and what a fair price might be for their time and materials.”
That same community and entrepreneurial spirit led Satha to become a Community Solutions Program (CSP) leader. IREX partnered Satha with Micro-Enterprise Training and Assistance (META) in Boise, Idaho, a nonprofit that teaches business planning and entrepreneurial skills to immigrants, Native Americans and other underserved populations, as well as administering micro-loans for their start-ups. Not only was Satha able to give invaluable advice and support to META’s work with entrepreneurs, but she was able to set up a connection for JARDS Products in Boise, selling her wares at DUNIA Marketplace, a local fair trade store. Satha was initially surprised by the amount of crossover her work in Boise had with that at home. “It was amazing that so many of the problems that women entrepreneurs face in Boise are similar to those that Malawian women entrepreneurs face – just on a different scale.” When Satha reflects on her time in the U.S. she says, “every experience that I have had with Community Solutions has helped me to grow as a person and as a leader.”
And grow she has. On her return to Malawi in December 2012, Satha was named Role Model Entrepreneur of the Year by the National Association of Business Women of Malawi; a title that she has taken seriously. Over the course of 2013, Satha mentored four young Malawian women entrepreneurs, connecting them to resources to grow their businesses, including experts she worked with back in Boise. In 2013, META’s Program Director, Ron Berning, went to Malawi to support her efforts in mentoring young women in business planning and marketing.
JARDS Products also had a boon year – it was featured at a number of regional trade fairs in Malawi, and was awarded a One Young World Social Business Accelerator Grant. Satha says of the future, “it’s looking bright. I plan to finish my workshop and start a training center in the next two years, where we can get more youth in to learn artisanal and business skills.”
Read more on www.irex.org
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