05 Mar 2014

Losing her mother at a young age led her to perform poorly in her Junior Certificate (JC) examinations.

After her failure, she turned to the poverty eradication programme and little did she know that it would make her even better off than her peers.

With only less than a year into her poverty eradication alternative package, 22-year-old Maun born, Ms Taboka Puo and her partner, Ms Gakelona Odirile are a shining example to other beneficiaries and indeed the nation at large.

Ms Puo revealed in an interview that together with Ms Odirile, who is also an orphan, were funded through the poverty eradication programme to start a food catering project and already the project is bearing fruit.

She won her first tender during the Chanoga poverty eradication Pitso last year, where they were engaged to cater for 50 media personnel at the tune of P28 000 for the entire duration of the Pitso. As if the Chanoga tender was only a tip of the iceberg, Ms Puo said they had more tenders to the value of over P100 000 coming their way.

She is, however, quick to point out that apart from her tender bids, they also sell food to individuals at the Maun Rural Administration Centre (RAC). The meals costs P20 and they usually make P1 000 per month from the sales.

The young business lady revealed that they have employed another youth who earns P700 per month and when they have a tender for more days, they engage another person on a temporary basis, whom they pay P400 for a period of two weeks.

Their project also pays each one of them P2 000 monthly, P200 for space used for their cooking and P600 for transportation of the food.

She says with her salary, she is able to put food on the table for her sibling who is doing Form Four at Shakawe Senior Secondary School and her partner is also able to care for her three siblings as well.

Ms Puo noted that the project has improved their livelihoods and that the government has brought hope to them as she realised that losing their parents did not mean their future should be bleak.

She said challenges such shortage of water, electricity and transport are not stopping them because they are planning to lease a restaurant. They have even registered a company called Hunger Destroyer.

Ms Puo is optimistic that even without tenders, their business is well positioned to thrive and she encouraged other beneficiaries to take their projects seriously as they have the potential  to turn into big businesses that can compete nationally.

Apart from the funding, the duo has also been sent for a one month training in food catering, something that she said she could have never had an opportunity to acquire had it not been for the poverty eradication programme. ENDS