Trustees
To support the development to ensure a sustainable future, Mamma’s Laef Vanuatu was supported by the Mamma’s Laef Charitable Trust. Formalised as a registered charity in New Zealand in 2018.
The Trustees were the Founder of Mamma’s Laef, Belinda Roselli and the other Trustee was Tina Onnes. Tina has been a mentor to Belinda throughout the research phase to the implementation and delivery of the manufacturing and awareness tasks. The partnership between the New Zealand and Vanuatu entities has been formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding. This arrangement gives clarity to donors as well as developing a successful enterprise.
The Trust closed in June 2022 at the conclusion of its designated goals.
Belinda Roselli
Belinda is the Founder of Mamma’s Laef Vanuatu and together with Tina were the Trustees of Mamma’s Laef Charitable Trust.
Belinda is a mother of 2 young adults. Her upbringing taught her that it is important to help those that you can, when you can. Although the Charitable Trust (based in New Zealand) closed in June 2022, Belinda continues to support the work of the Vanuatu team.
Tina Onnes
Tina was a Trustee of the Mamma’s Laef Charitable Trust (New Zealand) during that phase of the development for the Vanuatu team. Tina said “I love what Mamma’s Laef are achieving in Vanuatu. When Belinda asked me to become a Trustee, I was more than happy to share my business skills.”
We are grateful to Tina for her commitment and expertise provided to the Charitable Trust.
Whats the link between Mamma’s Laef and Lav Kokonas
Why social enterprise?
Warning! Embarking on a social enterprise is not for the faint-hearted.
Required are the following attributes … vision, tenacity, endurance, some funds, the ability to tell your story, patience and most importantly – the right people in your team.
Added to those qualities, you need to be able to provide potential funders with robust reporting mechanisms to prove the impact you are creating / have created. You have an obligation to funders results.
Social enterprise can be defined as...
“A revenue-generating business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to deliver profit to shareholders and owners.”
Maybe this will explain it better
Donation vs. in-country Enterprise
For years, developed nations have given to poorer nations time after time after time after time. Valuable lessons have been learnt along the way. In times of humanitarian disasters (climate or otherwise), donations can be a rapid way of supporting the immediate needs of a community / nation and no one can deny that this approach provides immediate impact, because it is generally done in a coordinated and country led way.
Where mass donations can go terribly wrong, sometimes with disastrous consequences, when well meaning people donate products without thought about HOW to distribute and WHO will receive the products.
This article gives a picture of what can go wrong.
When it comes to longer term supports for a least developed nation, some International, it is recognised that working with a community can provide sustainable, longer lasting positive impacts. That is what we can achieve by being on the ground, and knowing the context of our fellow in Vanuatu.
