Entrepreneur empowering community youth with valuable skills

FENITA Small is the owner of Excellent Touch Design Salon that is located at the edge of Blueberry Hill.

The mother of three is giving back to her community through classes in cosmetology (hair, nails, manicure, pedicure, facials, piercings) and other beauty courses to youths in the village and is also sharing her time with students from the Board of Industrial Training (BIT), a government skills-training programme.

From 2000 to date, Small has been using her salon to empower many young people who have established their own small businesses and achieved much through that venture, such as buying cars and building their own houses.

“When my students call to say they are doing well with their small business, I feel rewarded because I know I played a part in moulding them; and they can do a lot with the skill achieved, they will never have to work with people again,” she said.

Small told the Pepperpot Magazine that when her business began to grow, some of her clients asked if it was possible to impart her knowledge and she agreed.

She began taking in anyone who was willing to learn and as word got around the community, more people showed up for classes and it became a daily thing.

“I get to know how the people that have passed through here are doing in terms of their small business and when I get a good progress report, I feel overjoyed because I know they are trying to build their business and make an honest living,” she said.

Small added that she offers many courses from Monday to Friday from 09:00hrs to 16:00hrs and presently she has 10 students from BIT.

This course goes for four months, but she will close off classes until next year due to the upcoming holidays.

Meanwhile, her own courses usually go for six months, and students get to pick the courses in which they are interested.

Small stated that she sees her salon as a place of learning and she always has a place for one more at any time.

She is originally from Blueberry Hill but relocated to Christianburg and has another small business, Colfins Bakery, which supplies Linden with flavoured cakes and cakes for any occasion. She intends to expand this business soon.

Small noted that she gets support from the locals and it helps to keep her business operating and her prices are reasonable and she has the backing from her husband, a bauxite worker.

She opened the door of her salon in 1994 after she graduated from a cosmetology school and has been self-employed since and prefers it that way.

Small is very passionate about teaching in her salon and it keeps her motivated and energised.

This small-business owner is a member of Fruits of Calvary Church on Burnham Drive and she is a simple person, who goes about her operations in an organised manner.

Daphne Sandy
Daphne Sandy is an elder in Blueberry Hill and she is well-liked and respected and would spend her days sitting in the verandah or chatting on the phone when she is not doing chores.

Sandy is in her late 80s and she is not taking on any worries, even though some days she forgets things, but on others, she is doing well.

The mother of three told the Pepperpot Magazine that decades ago she and a neighbour visited Blueberry Hill and liked the place.

They returned and she built a small house and relocated from Christianburg and she has been there since, but constructed a better house, the same one she resides in now.

Her late husband, Randolph Sandy, was the Regional Executive Officer (REO) for the region.

Relatives and good neighbours surround Sandy and she is very comfortable in the village and describes life there as nice.

Her grandson lives in the lower flat of the two-storey house;she enjoys a good cup of tea and watches her favourite shows on television.

“I have a good life with good people in it and things are going great since I have lived a full life and is[sic] enjoying my twilight years at home, the only place I want to be,” she said.