APR 25 2023
Sanya is a local entrepreneur in our community and a member of the thriving Marshallese community in Northwest Arkansas. She decided to serve her community by providing foods and products that cannot be found anywhere else and that feel like home. Her market, Alele Mart, which is a word for a “basket or gathering place”, will be a central hub for her community to gather, eat, laugh, and rest together.
“We have a big Marshallese community here in Springdale.”
“I saw that there was a need, [especially] for…Marshallese outfits and jewelry. I wanted to bring a place here where [members of the community] can just walk in and get whatever they need. It’s convenient for them and also makes a business for myself.”
Sanya brings jewelry, clothing, and specialty foods from Hawaii, the Philippines, and the Marshall Islands right here to Northwest Arkansas. She brings in specific foods, “sometimes we have fish, we have to bring it in from Hawaii. SometimesI have to travel over there to bring the local food here.”
She makes best selling donuts the community loves- “the least I make is about five batches. And that’s around 70 bags with ten in each bag. And that’s what we’re used to – you know when you’re used to something, that’s what you want to eat.”
A Place to Rest
“I also wanted to have a place where we have a seating area where people can just come in and talk, you know, just somewhere for them to hang out. Because that’s what we like, we’re very friendly people. We like to hang out with friends, family – it’s the island life. We always go to each other’s places and eat good local food. So I wanted to kind of bring it here.”
“So that’s my vision for this place, you know, just somewhere the community can come and relax, get whatever they need or miss from back home. You know, enjoy fresh, local food that they can just conveniently walk in and buy, sit down, relax, and enjoy their food.”
Sanya’s Story
“I have an 11 year old and a 20 year old who is back in Hawaii. So I moved (from Alabama) with my ex boyfriend here – we wanted to start this thing together because [this] was what I really wanted to do. And then COVID happened, so we put it on hold.”
“We started taking Canopy, which was really awesome. We get a lot of help from Canopy and I really appreciate that.” It’s really a good program, especially for myself. I don’t know, I’m not from here so sometimes I’m overwhelmed -I don’t know where to go to get help and stuff like that and they’re really helpful.”
The Meaning of Alele
Back in the Marshall Islands, our culture, all the responsibility is for the oldest [people]. I am the oldest in my family, so if my mom cannot take care of my younger siblings, I’m responsible for them. So usually [things that are] valuable are given to the oldest in the family and they’re the ones who share it with everybody. [If you are the oldest,] you are the one to take the food and share it with all your siblings.”
“A basket full of valuable things for your family to share…”
“Back home, family is really important. There’s no such thing as being homeless – you cannot be – if you have a family, they’re going to stay with you. So that’s one of the things I love about our culture.”
“You always feel like you have somebody [there for you], that’s one of the things that is really important. You can just walk into your neighbor’s house – we all know each other, you know? And then we came here, this is a big country, and so different. So that’s why I wanted to create a place of support for the community – I have [created] a little piece of home here.”
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