Shulinab Women’s Group cashing in on dried fruit
Women from the Rupununi village of Shulinab are drying mangoes and other fruit which previously used to go to waste.
Violet Eusebio, Chairperson of the Shulinab Women’s Group told the Department of Public Information (DPI), in a recent interview, that the project began in May 2018 when the group restarted, and it was discovered that two dryers were the only assets they possessed.
“The project was ongoing for a very long time, but the previous group were doing it, drying a few things. But then it flopped. The women decided to elect a new chairperson. I was elected in May of 2018 and as soon as we restarted the group this was one of the biggest assets we had and everything was just wasting. We didn’t know how to use the dryer, the previous women did not tell us about the process of drying or what kind of fruits that can be dried, although we reached out to them. Luckily, a lady by the name. Sherlina Nageer visited the community some time ago and taught the women how to use the dryer,” Eusebio explained.
Eusebio said that Nageer was visiting the community during last year and came upon the women’s group who shared some of their ideas with her. She subsequently brought some samples of the dried tomatoes, mangoes, bananas and oranges to show the group.
“…Since we have those same fruits in the village, we started to dry them. I thought it was really hard but it is not… We are only seven months in this business and it has been great, but we still have a far way to go”, she said, according to DPI.