Facilitating Ana’s Economic Empowerment
Opportunity is empowering Filipino families to have greater power and control over their own lives. Before coming to Opportunity, Ana lacked the means to make her own choices. For Ana (pictured left), disempowerment meant scavenging for food and scraps on a garbage dump from the time she was eight years old. She was even forced to scavenge at nine months pregnant. Ana achieved economic empowerment by making the most of the financial services she accessed through Opportunity Philippines institution TSPI and by participating actively in the training and growth opportunities she was provided. These actions led to income generating activities – important steps in raising her household income.
With a small loan from TSPI, Ana was able to stop scavenging and establish a small grocery store. Taking control of her financial situation Ana has increased her income from approximately $1.80 to over $16 a day. Ana has experienced a combination of changes in her life that address the dynamic and relational nature of poverty.
Because she has become economically empowered she has gained the ability to choose how she spends her income. In most cases, economic empowerment leads to the improved social well-being of whole families, as clients like Ana choose to spend their income on better nutrition, health and education. For Ana, her increased income has allowed her two eldest children, Faith and Sharma, to get the education they deserve. Ana will send her other two children, Janmuel and Jekerry, to school when they are of age.
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Did you know that currently, one-third of the population of the Philippines lives under the poverty line and 60% are employed in the informal economy, running small businesses which are not recognized by the government?
By contributing to this initiative, you are helping to expand access to financial services so that more people in the Philippines will be able to have access to loans, training, savings, and innovative insurance covering life, property and even typhoon damage. With your support, we can empower people to work their way out of chronic poverty, transforming their lives, their children's futures and their communities.
Rebeca is 39 years old and a widow. She has two school-aged children. Their family resides in Llanera, Nueva Ecija.
Engaging in a general store is the primary source of income for Rebeca. She sells a variety of different products in the local community. She has been managing her business for over 8 years and she earns approximately 6000 Php monthly.
Rebeca works hard in order to make her store more productive and she really need an additional capital to make her business improvement see in reality. She is requested to avail a loan amounting to 10000 Php to purchase additional inventory and working capital for the improvement of her store. The income that she will generate from the business will be used to finance the education of her children.
Liza is very diligent businesswoman, sacrificing a lot in working to reach her goals in life. Liza is 38 years old and married. She has three children who are all in the school-aged and her family resides in the province of Nueva Ecija. Their family is always helping each other, her children and her husband always extend their helping hand with her especially for the success of her business.
Liza manages a general store. She sells a variety of products such as bread, canned goods, soft drinks, frozen food and other daily basic commodities. She has been operating her general store for over 10 years and she earns approximately 4000 Philippine pesos per month. She wants to buy more products to sell in order to meet the demand of her customers, but she does not have enough capital. With additional capital she will be able to buy additional stock and increase her income. The income that she will generate will be used to expand her business and pay for the tuition fees of her children.
Elma Pabliro is a 54 year old mother from Barangay Dakutan, Dumangas, Philippines. She lives a simple life in a small shack together with her husband Carlos and her four kids, Hajie, Bitsy Rose, Ryan, and Aldrin. According to Elma, raisng four children at the same time is very hard. Neither she nor her husband have had any formal education or reached college to gain local employment. Her husband, Carlos, earns a small amount as a carpenter. The amount according to Elma was kept and budgeted to ensure the family could be fed.
Knowing that her husband’s salary was not enough, Elma started mixing pastries and homemade delicacies. She would then carry basketsful to neighbors every afternoon. Despite the high heat and the several kilometer hike, Elma continued to sell her pasteries and homemade foods. She is determinated to provide a better future for her kids. However, due to the increase in the price of sugar and rice, Elma was forced to shut her business down.
Eventually, Elma saw many kids going to town just to buy barbequed meat, hot dogs, chicken feet, and intestines. It was then that she decided to open a barbecue stall. She used her savings from her old business to buy the ingredients and built a grill. She put up her stall near the highway where it would be visible to passers snd sure enough, it was a hit.
Though the business has been doing well, her income isstill sparse. Her capital at that time was only 500 pesos which did not create difference in terms of her income. Elma would like to increase her sales by having additional capital for her business. She plans on expanding her business, not only sell barbecue, but also refreshments.
Currently, millions of families in developing countries don’t have access to savings services because they don’t have the minimum deposit most commercial banks require (some two-thirds of the world’s adults still do not have a basic bank account). Their savings come in such small increments that most banks are not prepared to offer them an account. In addition, many people living in poverty don’t have or can’t afford documents such as birth certificates, which are needed to access traditional banking services.
Because savings is an economic necessity, people living in poverty must find other ways of keeping their money. Without many alternatives, some hide their money in hollowed out bamboo poles, in boxes under their beds, or in a hole in the ground. They also put their money into assets, such as livestock or pieces of jewellery. But assets offer little security as they are vulnerable to their environment–they can be stolen, deteriorate or be destroyed by natural disasters. People living in poverty need savings that are both safe and liquid, offering a safety net against crises such as floods.
Opportunity International offers savings products that enable people in poverty to securely deposit and save small amounts of money. Often without a minimum balance requirement, these savings accounts enable families to plan for unexpected expenses and can lessen the devastating impact of natural disasters.
With homes, families and livelihoods destroyed, survivors of the recent floods in the Philippines are faced with the overwhelming task of rebuilding their lives. Microfinance empowers families to recover from tragedy and reshape their futures.
To find out more about Opportunity International clients in the Philippines lke Arlene Santos who runs a spa go to http://www.opportunity.org/give/clients/1409.
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