ROVELINA Roshan did not expect to own a successful tailoring business when she arrived in Fiji from the Philippines in 1995.
Mrs Roshan and her five siblings were raised in a middle-income family in Quezon City in the Philippines.
She was working for a garment factory when the founders of the Ghim Li Global Pte Ltd travelled to the Philippines with a recruitment agency in search of workers to be employed overseas.
Mrs Roshan and others signed a contract to work at the Ghim Li factory Lautoka branch. She was 19 years old when she left the Philippines.
“Before coming here, we did a thread test and then some training, but we were supposed to be sent to Brunei, not Fiji,” she said.
“They needed a machinist to help them complete the order because everything was burned, so that’s why they requested for us to come.”
In 1997, Mrs Roshan married Rakesh Rohan, a local, who was also an employee at the factory. They had one son in 1999.
The 55-year-old reflected on her early days in Fiji and how far her quaint shop had come in serving the tailoring needs of the Lautoka community.
Following the closure of the Ghim Li factory, she began sewing from her home in 2005 before moving to establish her business in the city.
“I started in town in 2006, sharing the space in one barber shop there, opposite New World (Vakabale St), and then I moved to this place (Tukani St) in 2011.”
Mrs Roshan buys her threads from Chotubhai & Co in Suva or Paddy’s in Lautoka and other accessories such as elastic and zippers from Divya Collection.
She keeps lollies and snacks in stock for students passing by her store in the afternoon.
She also sells canned tuna, crackers, stationery, and exercise books.
“We sew everything, even wedding gowns, but not men’s pants. For now, our priority is the sulu and jaba because most of our customers are iTaukei ladies.”
While her earnings may not be much, it is able to cover her family’s bills and rent.
“My husband is now working as a loans officer at the Sugar Cane Growers Fund. We are renting and sometimes I send some money to my family in the Philippines.”
Mrs Roshan said the couple’s incomes had helped put their 26-year-old son through school.
He recently graduated with a bachelor’s in medicine and bachelor’s in surgery (MBBS) from the University of Fiji’s Umanand Prasad School of Medicine in Lautoka.
“He just started work at the Lautoka Hospital, and I am very proud of him.”
She said she tried to visit the Philippines every three years to see her siblings, however, her parents had since died.
“Last year on December 15, my son and I went to the Philippines for a holiday and we came back on December 27 but my husband has also been there twice.”
Mrs Roshan said sewing is becoming a dying skill among the youth.
“I think most young people are not thinking about this career path, but it’s easy to find a job here, for example, I can hire someone to do the sewing and tailoring.
“My advice is for them to not put this kind of trade aside. If they don’t have a job or don’t go to school, they can learn sewing.”
