Thursday 12 December 2013

Single mum credits Avon for helping her out of distress


CLOSE KNIT: Suriati poses for a photo with her boys, Zulfikka (left) and Mohd Muinuddin.

KUCHING: Single mother Suriati Bahari, 37, was at her wits end supporting herself and two sons after her husband left her for another woman until her friend introduced her to a direct selling company, Avon.

Joining the company after her friend persuaded her to, she now supplements her income by selling Avon products.

Apart from working at a factory in Daro as a cleaner, Suriati sells Avon products to her office mates and friends on weekends, and earns around RM300 a month. She also gets RM200 per month from the Welfare Department for her sons aged 12 and 14.

“When my husband first left me in 2003, I was selling ‘kuih’ at the canteen for a year before selling them at the night market. Since the income was not stable, I quit and found work as a cleaner, but it was still not enough,” she said.

“My sons also missed their father when he first left, but after sometime, they stopped asking for him because they knew that he was not coming back,” she added.

However, she was lucky that she had a caring family and neighbours who helped her out, and her late mum let her move back into the family home.

Her mum also took care of her young sons when she went out to work.

Her family home is shared with her two older sisters.

She was very stressed at first because of lack of money, but at the same time her boys continued to love her and understood her hardship and were well behaved as they knew that her sacrifices and hard work were for them.

Her best experience so far since joining Avon in late 2010 was managing to hit the sales target of RM18,000 and going for a trip to Sunway Lagoon in July last year.

She said though it did not sound much, it was her first time to the capital city.

“I hope to hit more targets because of the trips. Without it, I would never have left the village and see new places. The earnings from selling the products also help reduce my financial burden and take care of my children’s needs,” she said.

She hopes that her children will do better in their studies and be successful in life.

Despite her busy schedule, she takes time to talk and listen to her children and encourage them to study hard. She is also very close to them.

Apart from their studies, her boys Zulfikka and Mohd Muinuddin are also active in extra co-curricular activities like joining library, football and scouts clubs.

In Avon, she is led by senior sales leader Wong Poh Sing. Wong was recently awarded a car of her dreams, a Nissan Fortuner, for her achievements.

“I look up to Madam Wong’s success because she inspires me to work harder. I hope that I can be as confident and successful as she is.”

For more information about Avon, please contact Avon hotline at 1800-22- AVON (2866) or www.my.avon.com.

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