ACbit Trained 150 Women Microentrepreneurs in Ainaro and Baucau

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Between December 2021 and January 2022, ACbit has implemented six Microenterprise Development trainings in Baucau and Ainaro. In Baucau, ACbit collaborated with FHCT, a local NGO, to conduct the training. Between the 20^th of December 2021 and the 28^th of January 2022, ACbit and FHCT have trained 75 women microentrepreneurs in Baucau. In Ainaro, from the 18^th to the 23^rd of January 2022, ACbit collaborated with ACbit’s focal points to also train 75 women microentrepreneurs.

Among the 150 participants were women survivors of past conflict, victims of gender base violence, family of women survivors, and women from the community who ran their small businesses.

The aim of these trainings was to support the women microenterpreneurs by improving their capacity in managing their small business, managing their finance, improving the quality of the products, and marketing their products. The trainings were also aimed to increase their confidence in managing and developing their business into a sustainable income source.

“My appreciation towards ACbit team. The lessons I learned in this two-day training, especially the topic of ‘loans’, are very relevant with the activities that we do in my business group. Therefore, I will share the lessons I learned from this training with my group,” said Marciana dos Santos Freitas, a woman microentrepreneur from the Furner Group in Baucau.

“In these last two days of training, I learned a lot. I learned about gender-based violence, something that I usually heard but did not truly understand until I joined the training. I also learned about financial management, how to record my income and expenses. I also learned how to save money that can be used to increase the size of our business in the future,” said Aliansa Barbosa, a woman microentrepreneur from Ainaro.

These activities were part of the Reforsa Hamutuk project, a 30-month project funded by the European Union, with implementations conducted by Hivos, ACbit, and Fokupers, to promote social inclusion and economic development of women survivors and victims of violence in Timor-Leste.

ACbit will also hold similar trainings in Dili and Oecusse to extend the opportunity for capacity building to more Timorese women microentrepreneurs.

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