Creativity in the making comes a long way for a mother from Malaita Province, Grace Afea, who dyes sarongs (larva larva) for a living.
Mrs. Afea said that what she is doing now goes ten years back, when she first came to learn the art of "sun dye"."The influence was from a Samoan woman who came and taught us how to do 'sun dye' on larva larva," she recalls.
Putting together what she had learnt, Mrs. Afea combined the skill with her cultural know-how in designs, covering the 'vast diversity of culture in Solomon Islands'.
She admitted that going into business on such conditions is not at all smooth running.
Mrs. Afea gave the current rainy season as an example of when her business is disrupted.
"With the continuous torrential rains currently in town, all this has stopped me from producing my products because it will not turn out as what is expected," she explained.
Mrs. Afea said that what she earns covers for more colors for new products and making ends meet for her family.
Solomon Times was informed that the colors (dye) are also expensive with most ranging from SBD$25 "but it will increase to almost SBD$50, which is going to be a great loss for us in our selling".
But even while it is hard, "going into the business of selling larva larva has helped to meet a lot of our family's basic needs and wants".
Mrs. Afea said that although hard earned, the business is worth all the hard work and sweat for the survival of her family.