06 Mar 2017

Nowadays there is nothing like men or women dominated businesses, it simply is survival of the fittest.
This is the adage held by Ms Eva Juda of Kubung ward in Maun, who has found a niche in fixing and repairing shoes.
Ms Juda believes that every individual is capable of doing any business.

Speaking in an interview with BOPA, 34-year-old Ms Juda explained that her business of repairing shoes started in 2011 after working for a shoe-repairing company and realising that she too can do since they shared tasks equally and she gave her male counterparts a match.
“Finding a course on how to repair shoes never came into my mind, I just developed love for shoes and started my own businesses, which is not common in Maun, especially for women.

I am now taking care of my children,” she said.
Ms Juda, who is operating his business under a tree, dreams of growing it in the coming years, adding that she has applied for funds from the Department of Gender Affairs and is hoping for the better.

“If I manage to get the funds from Gender affairs I will buy big machines that will enable me to fix as many shoes as I can per day and I will also help government to create employment for the youth because government cannot manage if the business community does not come on board,” she said.

She encourages those who are willing to start their businesses to have patience and perseverance and not to go for businesses that are common.
Ms Juda said many people are shocked when they see her repairing shoes because they believe that it was for men.

She said she believed in herself and her capabilities and that what keeps her going, noting that doing basic sole and heel repairs as well as shoe modifications are some of the easy tasks in her job.

She said she encountered challenges of shortage of material such as leather, noting that she sometimes go to Gaborone and Francistown to get the materials, which she said was costly.
“There are few shops in Maun that are selling leather, but their prices are too high for me, so to get the quality I want I go to other places,” she said.

Ms Juda said sometimes people bring their shoes to her workshop for repairing only to go for good, which randers her time and energy wasted for nothing.
As a parting shot, Ms Juda said people should not shun some businesses believing that they were reserved for some people or that people would laugh at them.

She said people nowadays leave in a global village, where survival of the fittest is the norm. ENDS