2020 Flea Market Fire Victims Receive E-Commerce, Digital Marketing Training
Women market vendors who were affected by the May 22, 2020, fire at the Suva Flea Market will receive three days of training on e-commerce and digital marketing.
This training has been organised to strengthen the capacity of women entrepreneurs to utilise Information and Communications Technology (ICT) tools in support of their businesses.
Veena Bhatnagar, Assistant Minister for Women, Children, and Poverty Alleviation, said the fire affected more than 100 market vendors, the majority of them were women-run micro businesses and self-employed women.
“Having faced this disaster, most market vendors are left with no appropriate options for the recovery as they gradually come to grips with the tragedy that has befallen them, amplified by the impacts of the twin crisis of COVID-19 pandemic and Tropical Cyclone Harold,” she said.
Ms Bhatnagar said the training would increase understanding of the business environment that women entrepreneurs operate in, which could inform future actions by policymakers to create a more conductive and gender responsive business environment.
She said the training would also equip participants with the knowledge and resources to offer this training to more women entrepreneurs in the future.
Market vendor
Wainisi Nai, a mother of seven and the family’s sole breadwinner, had lost everything in the fire.
The 46-year-old said since then she had been struggling to provide for her children.
“I had taken over my mum’s business in 1998 which was my only source of income,” she said.
“I was at home on the day the incident happened, and I cannot explain my emotions in words after I had received the call about the fire incident. Everything that was destroyed was all I had which cost me around $4000.
“The new stock of second hand clothes and shoes were all destroyed, and I was left with nothing.”
Ms Nai currently lives with her de-facto partner, her two-year-old child and a daughter who is in Year 7.
“I had a hard time providing for my other children who live in Tailevu with their father,” she said.
“I had to withdraw the little savings that I had to start all over again.
“Now I sell from home but the income I earn is only enough to buy necessary things. I am not able to save any money.”
The 46-year-old said the training was something new to her and she was excited to learn about e-commerce and digital marketing.
