Quick memories from a Women’s Entrepreneur Market in Mauritius
by Toolsy Luchmun
I knew I had to stop by when I heard a group of women laughing wholeheartedly inside the Phoenix Mall. On approaching them, I was invited by one of the women to take a look at the items that she had displayed on her table. Like the other women in that group, this woman had come to participate in the Women’s Entrepreneur Market that was being held through March 11-13, 2022. All these women had come from different parts of Mauritius to sell their products, most of them handcrafted.
Women’s Entrepreneur Market, Jumbo Phoenix, Vacoas-Phoenix, March 11, 2022 (Photo credit: Toolsy Luchmun)
A look at the products and my conversations with the women indicated to me that they had put tremendous efforts into designing, producing their merchandise—especially given our times of standardisation, and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many businesses on the island, just as across the planet, had suffered losses and were forced to shut shop owing to the pandemic; the job loss was particularly hard on women. I remember a friend telling me last year how a company had to choose between keeping either the husband or the wife in its employ; ultimately, the husband was retained.
Women’s Entrepreneur Market, Jumbo Phoenix, Vacoas-Phoenix, March 11, 2022 (Photo credit: Toolsy Luchmun)
Women’s Entrepreneur Market, Jumbo Phoenix, Vacoas-Phoenix, March 11, 2022 (Photo credit: Toolsy Luchmun)
Women’s Entrepreneur Market, Jumbo Phoenix, Vacoas-Phoenix, March 11, 2022 (Photo credit: Toolsy Luchmun)
Visiting this Women’s Entrepreneur Market—seeing hope in the eyes of so many women—was thus personally uplifting for me, as a woman. While talking about their handmade items—jewelleries, pot hangers, wall hangings, skin-care products, interactive wooden toys for indoor pets, for example—these ladies went into finer details regarding their design, material, and production processes.
I was particularly impressed by one Ms. Annique’s passionate descriptions of how she makes her macramé items. For her, everything was important—but especially the theme, the colour of the macramé cord, and the message that could be communicated through a particular product. One could see the beauty of her imagination through a bookmark that she had knitted. A closer look at it—which may be difficult to have in the photo below—would reveal a series of hearts beautifully stitched together with a subtle, thin golden thread accompanying the rest of the yarns in their journey.
Ms. Annique’s handcrafted bookmark (Photo credit: Toolsy Luchmun)
Although her bookmark is mostly white—apparently intended to march the colour of a book’s pages—Ms. Annique stressed the need generally for using colourful cords: given that white cords remain overused, she said.
I also conversed with another woman, who was dressed in black and was accompanied by her son. She had unique handmade jewelleries for sale. I asked her, ‘How do you feel being here today, given that this event has been organised on the occasion of the Women’s Day?’ Unhesitatingly, she said, ‘There is no such thing as a Women’s Day, in my opinion. On several occasions, people in my surroundings have been discouraging me from doing what I am fond of. They told me that a woman’s place is in the kitchen.’
I was left in a momentary shock by her blunt response. Her comment made me think how a woman can be discouraged through negative comments and derogatory attitudes while she is trying to claim her space. As for this lady-in-black, she had obviously struggled out of that type of social negativity—and become a proud entrepreneur!
But another exchange I had at the same market with another woman entrepreneur had a faint echo of the same type of discouragement or negativity directed toward women—or maybe just me! At a venue that was immersed in creativity and entrepreneurship owing to this special market, when I wondered with this seller of mass produced t-shirts whether she had any colourful ones, she retorted, ‘You do not look like a colourful person!’
I couldn’t help but tell her back that being colourful is a matter of the mind, not looks.
Women’s Entrepreneur Market, Jumbo Phoenix, Vacoas-Phoenix, March 11, 2022 (Photo credit: Toolsy Luchmun)
Women’s Entrepreneur Market, Jumbo Phoenix, Vacoas-Phoenix, March 11, 2022 (Photo credit: Toolsy Luchmun)
On the whole, though, my visit to this Women’s Entrepreneur Market left me feel empowered as a woman—because I could see, talk to these women who had been able to explore and master their own domains of creativity-based businesses. There is also something magical for me in seeing women come together and work on the same platform—given that our contributions tend to go unseen in the private as well as the public domain.
The Women’s Entrepreneur Market was not devoid of men. This man is the son of a woman entrepreneur; he is helping her out at her stall. Women’s Entrepreneur Market, Jumbo Phoenix, Vacoas-Phoenix, March 11, 2022 (Photo credit: Toolsy Luchmun)
Toolsy Luchmun frequently writes about women’s issues. She has been teaching within the elementary school system of Mauritius for more than 5 years. She can be contacted via Thoughtfox through this form link or via her Facebook link. Check out her Thoughtfox profile page here.