Jacob's Garden Maintenance Business
My name is Jacob and my two friends are Thomas and Van. We are refugees from the Chin state in Myanmar and have been living in Australia for two years. During this time we have had a few jobs but have not been able to find ongoing
and rewarding work. We really want to work in the outdoors and recent experience in gardening and landscaping has inspired us to start our own garden maintenance business. We want to take charge of the future of our employment. We have the skills and enthusiasm
but not the finance to really get our business up and running. We need tools, equipment, insurance and advertising to become a professional team.
Chin People are Farmers
The Chin are agricultural people and our families in Myanmar are farmers growing mainly corn in the mountains. All Chin families also have vegetable gardens to provide them with fresh food. This is our cultural background and
a big reason behind our passion to make gardening our livelihood.
Jobs for Refugees
Our experience and that of others in our community is that finding jobs that are financially and personally rewarding is a big problem for new refugees to Australia. We are learning English, but we still have trouble getting
jobs. This affects our ability to feel connected to our new life and country.
The Chin community in Melbourne is a close one with strong networks between families. If we can build a successful gardening business through our hard work and determination it has the possibility to reach many more families
and provide jobs to other members of our community.
Our Future in Australia
We are very keen to make a successful business and a better life for our families. We love working in the outdoors and being financially independent will help us build a happy and fulfilling life in Australia.
Our Business
We spent many years living in India after leaving Myanmar. Our housing situation was poor and has made us appreciate even more the beauty that can be made in city gardens. Our business Jacob's Garden Maintenance will provide
quality work at a reasonable price in the western suburbs of Melbourne to help make peoples homes and gardens more beautiful.
Our services will include:
- General garden maintenance (lawn mowing, weeding, hedging and pruning.
- General house maintenance (window and gutter cleaning, small painting jobs).
With limited income we have managed to buy a few tools and get a lawn mower. We have borrowed money from a friend to buy a trailer so we can at least make a start. But we still need some essential equipment including ladders,
whipper snippers, wheel barrows, mattocks, shovels, crow bar, weed spraying equipment, brooms, rakes, bins etc.
We have three strong workers ready now and our goal is to have more than one job at a time to keep us all busy. To do this we need more tools and equipment. We have also learnt that we need to have insurance and an advertising
strategy.
Share Our Story
We hope you will support us through our campaign to help us build successful lives in Australia. Please share our story with your friends and colleagues by emailing them our link.
