Woman teaches herself to sew meri blouse to earn a living

By JACKLYN SIRIAS
TENDIS Alapi taught herself to sew meri blouses and is earning a living from it.
Alapi, 29, left school after Grade Six in Pangia, Southern Highlands. She then planned to come to Port Moresby to find work.
“I came to the city four years ago with a sister for some family obligations”, she told The National.
She found out how hard it was for families to make ends meet, especially when one was unemployed.
“That made me think about what easier thing I can do to earn a living. One day I went to a market and I saw women selling beautiful blouses of every style, size and colors. It caught my attention.”
She knew then that she must teach herself how to sew.
She bought materials and designed her own styles.
“I started cutting out patterns and began sewing blouses of different styles and sizes and sell them for between K10 and K50.”
She not only taught herself how to sew but also find a permanent place to do her sales.
She decided to walk around the streets selling what she had sown.
Two colleagues who lived with her at Morata joined in the street sales.
Anita Luru, 23, said: “We are living in the city and we know other people even our relatives will not look after us as they have their own responsibilities and families to look after.”
Cathy Tongapi, 25, said their sales depended on their customers and the blouses they produced every day.
“On average, we earn around K200 on a daily basis,” she said.
Tongapi said on a good day, they could make K500.
They targeted working class women, mothers at the market and school girls.
The three women walk with their blouses from Morata to Nine-Mile, Manu, Koki and to Ela Beach. They return home after 4pm.