Empowered and Resilient Women receive training to be better entrepreneurs

PeaceWork Belize and the Taiwan Government partnered to launch the Empowered and Resilient Women Training. The program seeks to prepare and to equip participants with the necessary tools and discipline to become successful entrepreneurs. According to PeaceWork Belize’s Executive Director, Dr. Carol Babb, the program also seeks to empower the 50 participants to provide for themselves and their families, while productively participating in the development of their community. 

Dr.Carol Babb, Executive Director, PeaceWork Belize: “Today we launched the ERW Empowered Resilient Women Training. It’s an 8-week training. We will be training 50 women. We will empower them with skills so that they become resilient, they become successful entrepreneurs and also financially literate entrepreneurs as well. To empower women is very very important when women win an entire society wins, the country wins. Women can,  women will and if we empower them then we are empowering not one person but many persons. There will be fifty women participating in the training. They had three choices. Now the core subjects are financial literacy. We want all of the women to become financially literate. We want them to learn how to manage their money, how to save regularly, how to borrow wisely and invest and when they borrow pay back promptly. They will also be exposed to entrepreneurship skills like knowing how to make your business plan, how to promote your business and other knowledge and skills to make them successful. Another core subject area is social and emotional learning. Helping them to identify their emotions, helping them to address those emotions, helping them to become emotionally intelligent individuals so that they can empower themselves and have impact empathy for others.” 

The course, which is for participants between the ages of 18 and 30, will run for eight weeks, ending on March 11. It will cover subjects such as Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy, Social Emotional Learning, Cake Making and Decoration, Jewelry Making, and Sewing. The training will be followed up with mentoring to provide further support and guidance to ensure that the women have the best chance of succeeding in their respective enterprises. Businesswomen, Ronelli Requena and Amira Correa-Pelayo, who both delivered remarks, told the media why training opportunities are important. 

Ronelli Requena, Founder and Owner, Zayvha Sarai Ltd.: “My main focus for my business is custom wedding dresses and event wear and we also launched last year for men too so we also have another business which is DS Bespoke that do tailoring for men. I’m a science major so all the business part of entrepreneurial journey was all new to me so there were a lot of things that I had to learn but what helped me a lot was networking with other women that have been in my same position and that way if I had the big question I was never ashamed of asking. I think it is wonderful. I like to say I’m a BELTRAIDE baby. They are the organization that helped me to push my business to where it is today getting the proper education and financial literacy on how to do a business canvas. I actually did the FEP program with them through which I got a grant which really propelled the business to where it is today through knowledge and proper techniques in sewing and professional equipment. So programs like these and future programs I am all for it and I am here to assist in whatever I can.”

Amira Correa-Pelayo, Founder and Owner, Sangria MIA: “It was extremely difficult. Actually at the time I was out of a job. I did have some savings and I was using the savings that I had to fund my education but then I was realizing that the funding was finishing and I would not have been able to finish paying off my degree. So what I ended up doing was using the remaining of those funds to invest in my business and that’s how I started, that’s how I launched Sangria Mia. It is absolutely important. Unfortunately women there are so many adversities that women face as an example pregnancy. Unfortunately there are a lot of places of employment that do not foster environments that really helps women whenever they are going through these challenging times and pregnancy is something that is so unpredictable and this is exactly what happened to me. I was pregnant and there were many places that you try to find employment they will not hire someone who is pregnant so I do believe that women who are out there even if you are employed try to see if you can find something that can help you, a side hustle or something that can help sustain you because if anything should ever happen you know that you have that as a back up.”

All training sessions will be conducted at the Department of Youth Services on Dakers Street in Belize City, on Saturdays starting tomorrow.