Students from Nguiu on the Tiwi Islands are running a stall at the Mindil Markets that will provide experience for their Certificate III course in Retail Supervision at Charles Darwin University.
It is the first time retail students have taken part in the markets, one of the biggest tourist attractions of Darwin in the dry season.
The Tiwi women screen print the materials in their factory and produce beautifully coloured articles in traditional designs. Products such as aprons, tea towels, table runners and sarongs will be on sale for the next four weeks, offering tourists and locals the chance to take away beautiful souvenirs or gifts from a unique part of the Territory.
As part of their retail course, the experience gained at the markets helps students learn about marketing, selling and merchandising while the interaction with tourists and locals builds the Pwanga profile.
Pwanga is a local Bathurst Island women’s enterprise and all profits are put back into the business.
VET lecturer in retail Josephine Buck visits the Tiwi Islands twice a month to take retail classes with the women.
She says the Tiwi stall at Mindil will allow the women to test the market for their goods on the mainland. The women already have a small shop-front operation at Nguiu.
‘They now want to branch out, and it’s very much a trial to see what products the tourists like to buy,’ says Ms Buck.