Special Feature: Mamma’s Laef Vanuatu – Combining social drive with business acumen

In early 2018 Business Link Pacific connected with Mamma’s Laef (pronounced ‘life’), a growing enterprise based in the village of Pango, Vanuatu. Mamma’s Laef combines social drive with business cunning to create a unique venture.

Mamma’s Laef designs, manufactures and distributes washable sanitary pad packs for women and girls, and disseminates menstrual health education and awareness to girls and women in rural communities.

Using a social enterprise model Mamma’s Laef is a venture with significant purpose, applying entrepreneurial business practices to a far-reaching societal issue. The distribution of the packs, coupled with the education and awareness workshops has opened up conversations in the community around domestic violence, gender equality and women’s safety.

We spoke to Belinda Roselli, founder of Mamma’s Laef, about how support from Business Link Pacific can positively impact the growth of this unique business.

The origins of Mamma’s Laef date back to 2010, when Nelson-based Kiwi Belinda Roselli visited Vanuatu for a holiday with her family. Belinda and family took with them donations of school supplies, and realised quite quickly the implications of poorly resourced schools. In particular, the family were shocked by the lack of menstrual health education and essential feminine hygiene products and facilities for girls, both of which affects their ability to attend school regularly.

In October 2015, after copious amounts of research into the lack of access to affordable feminine hygiene products and ways in which she could help rectify this issue, Roselli decided to run a workshop in Pango Village, demonstrating the viable and sustainable aspects of washable sanitary pads. At this workshop was Mary Kalsrap, a ni-Vanuatu woman entrepreneur, who was immediately intrigued by the concept and wanted to help make it a reality. Roselli supplied the initial start-up investment to get the project off the ground, and so Mamma’s Laef was born.

Fast forward 3 years and Mamma’s Laef has grown into a promising SME and is co-owned and co-run by Mary and her husband Jack Kalsrap. Together they lead a team of local women, currently a total of 4 part-time workers, who design, manufacture and help distribute the washable sanitary pad kits and deliver menstrual health education to women and girls.

To date Mamma’s Laef has reached approximately 3,500 ni-Vanuatu women with their sustainable products, of the approximately 110, 000 women of menstruating age in Vanuatu. They have also extended menstrual health awareness and education to approximately 2,500 women. As a side to the project, Mamma’s Laef have also started to deliver education and awareness about menstrual health to men and boys, made more possible by Jack Kalsrap’s role as co-owner.

“We’re starting to really speed up now, we have 2 more years of needing quite a bit of support from outside organisations and hopefully Business Link Pacific is going to help us there in terms of courses and leadership development and business 101 for Jack and Mary. I know they’ve [Jack & Mary] got the potential and the commitment, they’ve stuck with it…. They know the impact they are having out in the community,” says Roselli.

Belinda Roselli with Mamma’s Laef owners, Mary and Jack Kalsrap in the sewing shipping container in Pango Village.

Roselli explains that menstruation is a highly taboo subject in Vanuatu, immersed in culture and tradition. Part of Mamma’s Laef’ success, she believes, is the fact that the SME is run by locals. There is a level of trust for Mamma’s Laef, the locals are more receptive because it’s grassroots, a locally owned and operated SME.

When asked about what specific business skills would enable Jack and Mary and the rest of the Mamma’s Laef team to achieve significant business growth, Roselli said that basic business skills, record keeping, financial management and financial literacy are at the top of the list.

“There is a lot of development that could be done around financial literacy especially, it would help with employee relationships…better knowledge of how to budget would make all the difference. The attitudes towards money in Vanuatu are vastly different to Westernised nations. We connected with Business Link Pacific because we were looking for support on those areas”.

In her time working alongside and supporting Jack & Mary in their venture, Roselli has observed the trends in business skills gaps in Vanuatu rural areas, saying that some skills gaps are filled by expatriates. It would be preferable for locals to be able to fill these areas instead, she says, hence, she is strongly advocating for business advisory services to support Mamma’s Laef.

“[support of this nature] will get them networking, to feel comfortable, and be able to say, yes I do own this business and I am going to make it a success”.

As an SME, Mamma’s Laef was able to access the Diagnostic and Referral service that scans businesses to identify opportunities for improvement and connects them with a network of reputable business advisory service providers. Mamma’s Laef was connected to Barrett & Partners, a Vanuatu based business advisory firm, who is supporting them to access BLP’s subsidy and to improve their accounting systems

Mamma’s Laef is a proudly environmentally friendly initiative, which Roselli believes is due to the ni Vanuatu’s natural gravitation towards sustainability. She describes the island nation as very much aware of the impact of plastic, as they were the first country in the world to ban single use plastic bags, straws and polystyrene takeaway containers.

However, the issue remains that feminine hygiene products are still not a priority purchase despite their eco-friendly status.

One of the challenges for Mamma’s Laef is to help change societal issues in “investing in women”, to educate ni Vanuatu, that purchasing a sustainable product which is locally made, is an investment in the future of Vanuatu.

Business Link Pacific is working closely with the Mamma’s Laef team connecting them with quality business advisory services to help the business prosper.

Business Link Pacific recognise the importance of supporting SMEs that are gender and socially inclusive. For more information about how Business Link Pacific can support your SME, click HERE or contact us on [email protected]