A mother’s expense never ends is what Tania Heffernan always tells her three children, and thanks to the training that she received from FRIEND Fiji with financial backing from USAID she is able to have some independence with the money she earns.
Heffernan who is currently a freelance tour guide, supplements that income by putting to good use the oil infusion course she did with FRIEND Fiji.
She says she is fortunate enough that there's a tour company in Nadi, who have recently been using her bottles of oil for their gift packs.
Heffernan says it is really tough to try and run a business when you don't have the backing, and when you have to do everything from scratch.
She says she can’t cook this on the stove because it will finish her gas, so firewood has to be used and then collecting the coconuts which have to husked, scraped and then squeezed.
At the moment she has to resort to bribing her nephews with the heavy lifting while she runs around looking for the lemongrass.
She says some of the challenges she faced is when trying to sell her product and people undermine her saying it is too expensive and should be sold for less like the ones from bigger companies.
Heffernan says the difference between those companies and her is that they mass produce while what she makes is 100 percent from her blood, sweat and tears.
She says with a cheeky smile what those companies don’t have is the main ingredient - love is the best ingredient of all.
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