13 Dec 2017

Traditional Samoan mats used to empower unemployed women

10:09 am on 13 December 2017
Petronilla Molio'o Mataeliga is Samoa's 2018 winner of the Queen's Young Leaders award

Petronilla Molio'o Mataeliga is Samoa's 2018 winner of the Queen's Young Leaders award Photo: Supplied

A young leader in Samoa has been recognised for her work using traditional Samoan mat weaving or fala masi to empower unemployed women.

Petronilla Molio'o Mataeliga, who's from the village of Faleapuna, is Samoa's 2018 winner of the Queen's Young Leaders award.

She took over from her grandmother to lead the Fala Masi Revival Project.

National statistics show nine per cent of women in Samoa are out of work and Ms Mataeliga says learning new skills such as handicraft can give them more financial independence.

"We are going through a very hard phase with teenage pregnancy, so a lot of dropouts. My mother and also my aunties that are involved in the Faleapuna committee, they try to bring all the young women in, give them something to learn and at the same time they can provide for their families," said Petronilla Molio'o Mataeliga.