Small start, big promise

Beth* is one of the mothers that ACT has been working alongside as part of our Livelihood Project for Mothers Without Family Support. Having been encouraged to use skills and passions she already had, she set about planning how she could successfully produce and sell baked goods in her community in northern Tunisia to be able to support her family.

Having a child out of wedlock can carry a great deal of stigma in Tunisia, particularly in more rural areas. It is almost always women who suffer the most. ACT wants to help transform the lives of such women by helping them dream of a future they can build for themselves.

ACT met Beth a little under two years ago, at the start of the project. Since then, we have been giving her training and support in how to set up and run her own business.

Beth came to our training sessions, run with a local partner. She was keen to take part, and over the course of a few months her confidence slowly started to grow. At the end of the trainings, she was ready to start her own business.

Having set up her workspace in her home, she began to bake items she could sell locally. She then would take this produce in a basket and offer them for sale. However, she had no fridge, so she was limited in what she was able to make.

Thanks to support and funding from ACT, Beth now has a fridge to store her ingredients in.

Baking more means selling more. Selling more means more money coming in to help her best support her family.

“Beth is growing into a promising businesswoman. She has a good business model,” says Hajer.

While there is more to success than this, it offers her an encouraging start, and hopefully will help to keep her focused and committed to this project. ACT is excited to see what Beth is capable of.

* name changed