Rose-Mary Haufiku
For many who have experienced it, being retrenched is heartbreaking and scary when one has no idea how to make a buck, going forward.
Maria Teofilus was also unaware of what she could do to make a living, especially since she needs to provide for her son. But as someone who is thoughtful, talented and creative, the idea of making cushions came to her.
The 30-year-old started making cushions in June 2019, following her retrenchment four months earlier.
“What triggered me is the stress of being unemployed, and the depression of looking for a job or going for interviews and still remain unsuccessful and broke,” she said.
Teofilus taught herself how to makes cushions, and now does it for a living. Lately, she has also been making keyholders and name tags to keep the cash flowing in, and simply because they are in high demand.
Explaining how she makes the cushions, Teofilus said: “It’s an easy process, where I just have to put garments (fabric) together in any other shape or design, stuff in cotton, and that’s it”.
She said the most challenging part is when clients order cushions with pictures they get from the internet, because then she needs to study the picture, cut the fabric and stitch to get the desired shape in the correct measurements.
“I let my God-given hands stitch it straight and correct. When I say God-given, I mean the cushions are hand-made, and no sewing or embroidery machine is used,” Teofilus pointed out.
She created her personal Twitter account in 2012 and changed the handle to meme_wiilapi after it gained a lot of followers, and for her clients to locate her easily. Her main clients are her Twitter and Instagram followers.
Teofilus a resident of Ongha aims to
get a sewing machine in the near future
to make her production faster, and would like to learn how to make curtains and bedding.
“I will make my business more of a home deco thing; probably employ few more people, and make something bigger,” she said. Her advice to the youth is that they should never give up on themselves. Life will, of course, be hard here and there, and there are times when one will think that no one wants to help them or God has turned his back on them, but that shouldn’t be a reason for them to give up.
“With or without a paper (degree/diploma/certificate), don’t sit home and do nothing, go out there and grab opportunities. Whether it means you should sell sweets or make pancakes, go out there and make it happen,” she urged.
She added that one must never worry about not getting recognition, but should always strive to be worthy of recognition.
Quoting former American president Abraham Lincoln, she said: “We should be too big to take offence and too noble to give it”. - rosemaryhaufiku5@gmail.com