She never went to school because her father abandoned the family and married a second wife, this however did not fase Naboron Anthony who is now a popular restaurateur in Yambio town in Western Equatoria State.
She narrated to Radio Tamazuj that she left the village in 2003 and embarked on an uncertain journey to Yambio town where she started doing menial jobs washing peoples’ utensils and clothes among other odd jobs for seven years.
“I started by working for people and washing utensils in the market and at that time my payment was SSP 5 a day and I would use it to buy food if there was none at home. I worked for people for seven years until I started my own business,” she narrates. “My father died so I use the money I earn to look after my younger siblings and my children. I have many responsibilities at home otherwise I would have grown my business.”
Naboron says she started by brewing and selling tea and preparing food on a small scale around 2011.
“I started by combining selling tea and running the restaurant business however, later the tea was not generating revenue and I had to close it and continued with my restaurant,” he says. “As I speak, my restaurant is still operating however there are challenges and rent in town is exorbitant. I pray that well-wishers can come and help self-employed businesswomen here.”
“After paying rent, taxes, and other costs, the money I have left is for feeding and taking care of my family,” she adds.
Naboron says she started the restaurant with a capital of SSP 150 and hopes to build her erect a building to house her business if her fortunes improve.
“The money I earn is small, SSP 40,000 on a good day and 20,000 on a bad day. If I did not have a lot of responsibilities, I would have built a bigger shop or even engaged in more business ventures in addition to my restaurant,” she says.
According to Naboron, well-wishers should aid women in business and financial institutions should also give them loans on fair terms.
“I do not have people helping me in terms of business advice and continue to struggle on my own. Young women entrepreneurs such as myself do not have any role models from whom to learn,” she says. “Another factor affecting our businesses is that we need refrigerators and these items are very expensive and we do not receive any subsidy from the government. Despite all these challenges, I continue to struggle and have to pay the school fees of my children and the children of my sisters and brothers.”
Asked what she has achieved from the restaurant business, Naboron said she bought a piece of land in town from her savings.
“I have achieved something and I am a very proud owner of a plot of land but unfortunately I have not yet built a concrete house on that piece of land,” she said
On what can boost and improve her restaurant, she said the acquisition of a fridge would make her serve her clientele cold drinks.
“The only thing that can help improve my business is a refrigerator,” Naboron said. “With a strong fridge, I can start selling cold drinks including water, soda, and others which will attract more business to my restaurant.”
She urged the local authorities in Yambio town to allocate commercial plots to small and medium-scale businesses to minimize their cost of rent.
“Also, young women entrepreneurs like me need access to entities that can support us with business loans, and advise on how to manage revenue because it can help me and other women to buy much-needed equipment,” Naboron says.
She regrets having missed out on going to school and said she was only exposed to domestic work including cooking, distilling local gin, and farming.
“My message to all women is that girls should stay in school and those women who are already managing their businesses must remain focused,” she advises. “If a divorce happens, an independent woman who runs her own business can send her children to school. If I had gone to school, I would have a bigger job and not just be a restaurant owner.”
Naboron sadly says that she is now a single parent after parting ways with her husband after he refused to help her grow her business and refused to pay bride wealth to her family.