Once, Adi Salaseini Lo Rakuro was once bored of her life and didn’t know what to do — but that all changed.
These days, however, her hands are so full that it required her to completely change her lifestyle.
In 2015, Adi Salaseini stumbled across a sewing and home economics class at the Salvation Army hall in Labasa and it pretty much changed the way she viewed the world. From then, she never looked back as she developed her sewing skills.
When she moved to Suva with her family in 2016, Adi Salaseini discovered she could run a small business sewing kitchen linen and matching pillows, cushion covers and other items.
“I also sew tablecloths, pillow cases and bed sheets of all sizes for families planning a tevutevu,” she said.
“I can also sew pot holders, bags and quilts, even embroidery work.”
She’s from Somosomo on Taveuni but was raised in Ba.
“I attended Bulu District School and then Khalsa College from Form 3 to Form 6.
“Then I studied at the Fiji Institute of Technology in Ba for a Diploma in Office Administration.”
When she married, her husband was a team leader with Telecom Fiji, so they stayed in the Northern town for about five years and raised two children. Adi Salaseini says when she started her sewing business, she would only sew tablecloths from screen-printed materials.
“I tried out quilts from patchwork then I started doing bed covers with different designs.
“People started to like what I did and asked to pay for these items. I realised that I could make money from this talent.”
She is now a volunteer trainer at the Salvation Army in Raiwai where she teaches people basic sewing.
“We also teach screen printing and carry out other kinds of training aimed at making people self-sufficient and, perhaps, run their own business just like me,” she added.
She has developed a good number of clients over the years and now receives orders from Fijians living in Kiribati, Cook Islands, Australia, New Zealand and the US.
“Those clients’ orders will mostly include pillows, bed sheets or kitchen linen set for traditional wedding ceremonies of tevutevu and for their relatives and family in Fiji.
“I have clients who also order from Vanua Levu and from the West.”
Adi Salaseini has learnt a lot and has even developed her talent whenever she does her training for women who come to her classes. “I thank God for giving me this talent and sharing my knowledge and skills with others who are willing to learn.
“And the Lord keeps blessing me with more skills.” Adi Lolo Comfort is the name of her business on facebook.
