Grant for Rotuma Creative Arts Project
ITaukei Trust Fund Board (TTFB) is among the Africa Caribbean Pacific (ACP) – European Union (EU) grant recipients.
This is under the ‘Enhancing Capacity for the sustainability of the Cultural and Creative Industries in the Pacific Project’ grant scheme.
Like the others, TTFB was greatly appreciative towards this assistance.
The grant is intended to assist the Rotuma Women’s handicrafts through the Rotuma Creative Arts Project.
The project has a three-year timeline.
“The Rotuma Creative Arts Project will involve supporting the development and enhancement of Rotuma’s creative arts, through entrepreneurial leadership training and business upskilling,” said Project Coordinator Rotuma Alfred F. Wiliame Jnr.
“The aim is to enhance production and value-adding capacity for Rotuma handicrafts, gaining a more competitive edge in the market and providing commercial benefits to sustain the livelihoods of the Rotuman community.
“The outcomes would include a better appreciation and understanding of the Rotuman art, culture and heritage. This basically enables these women to become self-starters or entrepreneurs in their own field.”
The target groups for this project include the Rotuman Women’s Association in Rotuma (RWA), the Rotuman communities in Rotuma, the Rotuma Youth group, and the Council of Rotuma. In addition to being assisted, the groups will also be monitored through initiated variables which could be from the number of crafts revived, number of new crafts developed to the number of households impacted and its value of improving well-being.
The indicators are also for verification purposes including training reports, interviews with the artisans and their households, sales report from transactions, qualitative studies on early/post impact assessment, and the triangulation of data for verification purposes.
The grant will not only be fully utilized towards its intended purpose, but the lessons learnt from these will be stepping stones in designing future projects for the Rotuman community.