For more than 10 years, 48-year-old Amaamaula Ieti from the village of Tuanai has earned a living as a seamstress and after completing an eight week creative crafts and sewing skills training, she has seen great improvement in her work.

The Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development (MWCSD) in partnership with the Chinese government held a 50-day training program which ended earlier this month and benefitted women from the 51 districts in Samoa.

Sewing is how she has put bread on the table for her seven children and being a single mother, the training has played a vital role in encouraging the growth of her talent and skill.

“I have gained so much from the training that I was a part of and by profession, I am a seamstress and I saw this opportunity to further my skill and talent,” she said.

“This training meant a lot to me and my family because this is how I’ve earned my livelihood and put my kids through school and assisted in village commitments and church responsibilities.” 

“During this program I learnt so much from these people who were willing to teach us to improve our sewing skills and taking it to another level. I used to be afraid to trying new techniques and I have certainly gained the confidence to be creative in how I sew my pieces.

“Not all the women in Samoa know how to sew and this is a great skill to earn money and the best part is you are able to perform this in the comfort of your home.”

She was selected as the district representative and in turn, she will have to share her newly attained knowledge and skills with the rest of the women in her community. There are more than 30 women in the Women’s Committee and they have scheduled a time in the coming weeks for her to hold classes to demonstrate her sewing.

“That is my reason and purpose for attending, it is to return and teach my skill and I have even opted to extend my help in teaching other villages if need be. A lot of people are selfish with their talent but I believe in sharing it and that’s why I was chosen to go.”

She said that sometimes during the eight week training, the instructors would have her assist the other women because of her fast learning capability.

“I guess I am more grateful for the opportunity to try out new sewing techniques. I found it hard to do before but now that I have seen the instructors do it I was able to obtain and learn it myself and it was definitely a great boon for us Samoans to learn from these instructors from China.”