Features
Grevic Alvarado
Venezuelan Deilyn Bracho has found a way to start a business, even as she takes care of her family and works with women migrants in TT, the place she has called home for the past four years.
The 35-year-old has dedicated her time to learning about entrepreneurship, starting Venezuelan Business Woman – a group of 15 migrant women who network to promote their skills, even starting small businesses in TT.
Bracho came to TT with her husband Alejandro Caura, a Venezuelan-Trinidadian, and their three children – Alhan, 13, Ashly, seven, and Aysa, four. Like many who migrated from Venezuela, receiving an amnesty from the government in 2019, Bracho said the ongoing crisis in her homeland is the reason she and her family left.
“The economic situation in Venezuela is not easy for anyone. Every day is one of struggle, despair and worries. That’s why we decided as a family to come to this country that my husband is a part of,” she said.
Bracho is qualified in educational psychology, but doesn’t practise in TT.
She is also a decorator and has started a small business, adding a touch of her culture. She has always enjoyed decorating things.
“I learned how to make piñatas for birthdays when I was 18 years old and sold them in local stores on request. That got me through the early years between adolescence and adulthood. I learned the value of work and the fruit of your own efforts,” she recalls.
“Since I arrived in TT I knew I couldn’t do any job for my children. I didn’t trust anyone to take care of them, and so I thought I would help my husband through what I know how to do – decorations, piñatas and birthday decorations and gifts.”
Bracho also teaches Venezuelan children – ages four to ten – since they are not allowed to attend TT schools.
“I dictate directed tasks. I like to guide the children, teach them to read, to write, to add, to subtract as if they are prepared for school,” she said.
Bracho is passionate about teaching and pursuing personal growth. That’s why she started Venezuelan Business Woman.
“Venezuelan women are characterised by being emotionally strong, with many business ideas, and that should be taken advantage of and serve as an example for many others. Every woman has the ability to build a business and move forward,” she said.
She said since she started it, her initiative has attracted many migrant women who want to participate and show their talent.
“Women have more responsibility, because in addition to our undertakings we must take care of the home, the family and get up the next day before everyone else with strength and energy. We have a rhythm of life that allows us to reach where our ideas and our hearts take us.”
Bracho doesn’t just want to work with migrant women who already have businesses. She wants any woman to progress through training.
“In the next few weeks I will begin teaching decoration courses to other women who want to learn about this business and open their doors as enterprising, brave and determined women.”
She plans to hold four workshops in her home at Union Hall, San Fernando.
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