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FEATURE: Immigrants gain from free classes

From left, Sun Huei-ping, Chiang Wen-ling and Lee Na show off their nail art at Taipei City Hall on Sept. 4 during a manicure class sponsored by the Taipei City Government for immigrant spouses. The city is working with several civic groups to offer courses such as accessory design and starting a small business. PHOTO: MO YAN-CHIH, TAIPEI TIMES

Immigrant spouses Arelis Gabot from the Dominican Republic and Lee Na (李娜) from China never dreamed of having a career when they got married and moved to Taiwan.

However, now that they have taken career-training courses held last year by Taipei City's Department of Social Affairs, the two classmates are preparing to open a nail salon near Yungchun MRT Station in Taipei at the end of this year.

"It'll be a small but cozy salon. We will give customers tea and free massages in addition to manicures and pedicures," said Gabot, who came to Taiwan 12 years ago.

The courses, offered by the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) and directed by the department, are intended to help minority women, including single mothers and immigrant spouses, to improve their lives by assisting them in finding jobs or starting their own businesses.

Chiang Hsin-hui (江幸慧), a division chief in the department, said the city government began to sponsor the YWCA and six other civil groups in 2003, helping them offer minority women free training courses.

The courses include accessory design, starting a small business, cooking and starting an online store.

"Through these courses, a lot of women developed their potential and realize that they can be financially independent or even support their families" Chiang said.

The training Lee and Gabot received, for example, included manicure and pedicure skills as well as basic business knowledge, such as using office equipment and finding a location for their own business.

Teacher Wang Yo-yun (王宥云), advised Lee and Gabot to set up their nail salon near an MRT station to attract more customers, while keeping the cost down by limiting the space of the shop to less than 10 ping (33m2).

Opening a shop with low overheads or even no overheads, Wang said, is key for immigrant spouses to run their own businesses as most of them have little money to invest.

Lee and Gabots' salon cost between NT$150,000 and NT$200,000, including rent and materials for manicures and pedicures.

Wang said that costs could be reduced to as little as NT$10,000 if they chose to set up the store inside a hair salon, which has become a growing trend as more salons rent space to manicurists and masseuses as they seek to provide various extra services to attract customers.

"Manicure/pedicure shops will thrive like hair salons, and opening one is easier than opening other kinds of stores," she said.

"Being able to run a shop like this builds the confidence of immigrant spouses, and my students are very active in trying to prove their abilities," Wang said.

Lee, who just married a year ago, expressed her gratitude to the Taipei City Government for giving her the opportunity to learn new career skills.

"I signed up for the course to kill time and I never thought that I would become a shop owner -- if it weren't for my teacher and the good friends I met in the class," she said.

The program has also helped other women to become successful career women.

Hsia Yu-lien (夏玉蓮), a single mother who joined the program in 2004, is now the founder and the manager of the "Good Helper" company, which offered professional housekeeping services.

Having worked as a car saleswoman and realtor, Hsia started her housekeeping business with NT$100,000 in 2005 after taking classes.

She offers house cleaning services to her neighbors and the nearby community.

Now her clientele ranges from small families to chain bookstores and her company's monthly revenue has reached NT$100,000. She also has more than 30 full-time employees.

"The job market is still unfriendly to many women, especially those with kids like me," said Hsia, whose employees are all single moms.

"I think the program really prepared me to choose another career path and even gave me the ability to help other women," she said.

Chiang said the department will continue sponsoring the program, and welcomed single mothers, immigrant spouses or women with low incomes to seek assistance from the department.
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