


“I can help my family and give them money to buy our daily needs. Her job is menial and tiring, working on the shells of hundreds of oysters each day to maintain their health before the harvest season. “I didn’t have any working experience before I work here.

Astrid, 22, lives in a small coastal village and says she is happy to help her family without needing to move away from the island. Local women in particular, many of them young, are being given work opportunities for the first time in their lives. The pearl operators are keen to explain how their practices are good for the environment and local economy.
