Sandy Bay woman in productive hustle

This woman from the village of Sandy Bay knows how to turn her hands around to make ends meet.

She is Itasha ‘IT’ Sutherland, whose main job is to provide care for the elderly as a Home Helper.

When that job is finished by 3:00 p.m, the mother of six does not laze about and waste time. She is always busy, making things to earn an extra income to provide for her family. Her main cottage industry products are farine, cassava bread, and coconut oil which she sells in the community and also in Kingstown.

In an interview with SEARCHLIGHT on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, Sutherland said she usually buys the cassava to make her farine and cassava bread. She also buys the dried coconuts which she uses to make coconut oil. Sutherland is doing such good work in keeping the indigenous foods alive that shewas recently visited by students from the Sandy Bay Government School on Wednesday, November 6. She hosted Grade 6 students and their teachers and showed them how she processed the cassava into that delicious cassava bread.

“I learnt all these skills from my grandmother, Milcinette Sutherland who is now deceased,” she explained.

“I am thankful that I learnt them, because I can now make a living for me and my children.”

As it relates to the oil, after buying the coconut, Sutherland pays to have it ground in a mill, before she completes the process of extracting the oil.

The young woman is proud of her hustle, and she expressed thanks to members of the public for their continued support.