Piriwa Enterprise hub, Balgo

Engage, Expose, Activate.

Balgo (Wirrimanu) is one of Australia’s most remote Aboriginal communities located in the south-east Kimberley region of Western Australia on the northern edge of the Great Sandy Desert and on the western edge of the Tanami Desert. With a population of approximately 500-600 people, and eight different language groups including – Kukatja, Ngardi, Djaru,Warlpiri, Walmajarri, Wangkajunga, Pintupi and Ngaatjatjaras.

Enterprise Partnerships WA has facilitated the exploration of enterprise opportunities and entrepreneurial capacity building for women and girls in Balgo, primarily aged between 18 to 45 years. This has led to the creation of the Piriwa Op shop and Enterprise Hub. Watch Nathasha Short interview Kathryn Njamme about our work in Balgo.

Young women in Balgo face particular social and environmental challenges to participating in structured activities around training, education and employment. These pressures are compounded by social challenges, and a lack of resources to provide culturally appropriate and adequate enterprise facilitation that meets the needs of First nations women. This project aims to contribute to improving well-being of these women by engaging the women around their hopes and dreams.

The Piriwa Op Shop and Enterprise hub has a focus on activating female entrepreneurship in Balgo; which includes raising the community’s awareness of self-employment as an option; developing individual and collective readiness for entrepreneurship and capacity building in the hard and soft skill sets required to sustain a business.

Piriwa Op Shop and Enterprise Hub

Piriwa Op Shop and Enterprise Hub was launched in 2020 in Balgo. The women have established a leadership team and operate the community-run Op Shop. The women are also are experimenting with a number of bush medicine products such as bush soaps and lip balm. Senior Elders Gracie Mosquito and Tossie Baadjo also teach the young women traditional bush medicine skills. The profits from Piriwa Op Shop from sales of donated goods support the women to purchase essential equipment for bush medicine. Piriwa also take young women on country trips to share cultural bush knowledge and to promote mental health and wellbeing. Piriwa Op shop project is led by Kathryn Njamme. Watch the video about the Piriwa placemaking project in collaboration with Camera Story.