SOCIAL entrepreneur Vatsala Nair Manoharan has formed Moms Village to help women achieve financial independence by rediscovering their value.<\/p>\n
The establishment, according to her, serves as a community space for women who are rebuilding their lives to seek emotional support through peer groups for abused women.<\/p>\n
To empower these women, Vatsala created the hashtag #10Ringgit with the aim of encouraging them to earn at least RM10 a day.<\/p>\n
This allows the mothers to rediscover their self-worth and start businesses from home with limited resources and investments.<\/p>\n
We aim to reduce womens dependence on shelter homes when they leave abusive marriages or survive crises, she explained.<\/p>\n
Single mothers are taught how to take online booking for home food based business under the IbuPJ programme.<\/p>\n
Vatsala said during the movement control order (MCO) period, most single and abandoned mothers were financially drained.<\/p>\n
The abandoned mothers who sold nasi lemak by the roadside were badly hit, especially during the MCO period.<\/p>\n
They are now trying to restart their lives and certainly need help.<\/p>\n
Vatsala said abandoned mothers usually faced the problem of husbands who would make sudden appearances and then leave without providing any financial support.<\/p>\n
These wives would commonly not file for divorce due to the fear of being judged by society, lack of knowledge and time, poor finances as well as not having a support system.<\/p>\n
In some cases, these women continue living with their abusive husbands because they have no financial independence to afford even the basics such as sanitary napkins.<\/p>\n
Members of peer groups run by Moms Village learn to be financially independent.<\/p>\n
In other cases, the husband may have bought an asset with the wife and stopped payment.<\/p>\n
He would then have gone missing and not divorced the wife, leaving her with tremendous mental stress and financial difficulties, she said.<\/p>\n
Vatsala urged authorities such as the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK) to provide more outreach to abandoned mothers.<\/p>\n
I see the only way out for these women is to have financial literacy and stability.<\/p>\n
Local councils should also play a role by issuing more business permits and avenues for them to start their own businesses, she said.<\/p>\n
Moms Village also offers eco-friendly gifts and merchandise through the brand Magic Seed.<\/p>\n
IbuPJ co-founders Ellis Nusara Ainul Azhar (right) and Muhammad Amir Faaiz Shamsolnizam teaching single mother Nor Hafiza Ismail (left) ways to manage an online business.<\/p>\n
This is an initiative to offer beneficiaries an opportunity to earn a decent living by making and selling eco-friendly gifts that give value to people, planet and celebrations.<\/p>\n
These women are financially enabled to put themselves through workshops or affordable entrepreneurial boot camps, thereby giving them an opportunity to start their own business.<\/p>\n
Another programme that equips women with entrepreneurial, financial and marketing skills is the seven-week IbuPJ.<\/p>\n
The programmes focus primarily on improving the lives of single mothers in the B40 group in Petaling Jaya.<\/p>\n
It is part of the National Sustainability Challenge by the Axiata Young CEO Development Programme.<\/p>\n
Wong says helping single mothers in Petaling Jaya is vital for economic recovery post-Covid-19.<\/p>\n
IbuPJ co-founder Mathew Wong said the programme enabled women to transform their business online to help boost their household income.<\/p>\n
Helping single mothers in Petaling Jaya is vital for economic recovery post-Covid-19 and at the same time, directly helps those in need of assistance from Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ).<\/p>\n
Our team has created an end-to-end programme for IbuPJ in collaboration with MBPJ that will equip single mothers with entrepreneurial, financial and digital marketing skills through a four-week workshop.<\/p>\n
We also provide them with an e-commerce platform to sell their products and services, thereby helping them to generate sales and build a community of empowered single mothers in Petaling Jaya, added Wong.<\/p>\n
The top 10 mothers in the programme will have access to seed grants of RM800 to buy raw material and necessary equipment needed for their business.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Read the original:<\/p>\n
Giving abandoned women chance to rediscover their self-worth - The Star Online<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SOCIAL entrepreneur Vatsala Nair Manoharan has formed Moms Village to help women achieve financial independence by rediscovering their value. The establishment, according to her, serves as a community space for women who are rebuilding their lives to seek emotional support through peer groups for abused women. To empower these women, Vatsala created the hashtag #10Ringgit with the aim of encouraging them to earn at least RM10 a day. Continue reading