tEA hosts event for women street vendors in Chümoukedima

DIMAPUR — The Entrepreneurs Associates (tEA) organised an event as part of its Uplifting Women Street Vendors programme on Tuesday at Tsithrongse Village Council hall in Dhansiripar block of Chümoukedima.

According to the press release, 60 women from Tsithrongse and Murise villages attended the event, which was moderated by Azino Vero, CEO of Mulasu Farmers Producer Company Limited.

Tekhengutele Nuh, project associate at tEA, emphasised the necessity for women to venture into entrepreneurship, especially in a world where there is a prevalent craze for government jobs and underscored the importance of acquiring skills in digital payment methods, the art of savings, and discerning the distinction between “need” and “want” to bring about transformation in frivolous spending habits.

Supongchiba, the community mobilizer of tEA, educated women in his speech about the diverse, convenient, and advantageous saving options offered by tEA and introduced them to the various financial avenues available within the organisation.

Ruth Yanthan, a street vendor delivering the keynote address during the event, expressed her gratitude to tEA and narrated her life before and after her association with the Entrepreneurs Associates Thrift and Credit Cooperatives Federation Limited (EATACOL).

She encouraged all of the women in attendance to be bold, to take pride in their profession, to develop saving habits, and to envision their future with tEA.

The Uplifting Women Street Vendors programme is a flagship initiative of tEA, launched in October 2017, to empower women engaged in the marketing of farm produce. Under the programme, tEA collaborates with women street vendors, producers who sell their yields, and aggregators who connect rural products with urban markets.

To date, tEA has trained and worked with about 7,000 women street vendors in Nagaland, Manipur, and Assam, with plans to expand to other neighbouring states in the near future.

The release mentioned that under the programme, tEA has been providing training on financial and business management, skills, health and legal services, mentorship, and linkages to markets, along with zero-interest loans. It hopes that by the year’s end, 10,000 women street vendors will be impacted by the programme.

Also read: tEA empowers women vendors through digitalisation initiative