Elsa Belarmino: Migrant worker turned entrepreneur
Elsa Villamor Belarmino is among the first members of the reintegration and savings group of migrant workers in Chungli, Taiwan. Elsa, a migrant worker turned entrepreneur, saved her money while abroad to be able to start an enterprise in the Philippines.
Elsa Belarmino grew up in Barangay Matin-ao, Surigao del Norte. When Elsa was six, her father died in a farm accident and at an early age she and her siblings were forced to take care of themselves. Her mother would sell rice cakes and various Filipino delicacies at the local market to be able to support the family. She barely earned enough to support the family and Elsa had to work to support herself in school.
No decent job
Through hard work and perseverance, Elsa was able to finish a degree in Food and Nutrition. Despite her degree, Elsa could not find a decent job in the Philippines. She worked for ten years earning minimum wage at a Chinese fast food restaurant. She was then married and had two children. Elsa’s income, combined with her husband’s, was not enough to support the growing needs of their family.
When Elsa was twenty-five years old, she decided to leave the country to work as a domestic worker in Taiwan. Her family had to mortgage their land in Surigao to be able to pay for her placement fee.
Not easy in Taiwan
Elsa’s life in Taiwan was not easy. Her first employer did not allow her any days off or holidays and she would be asked to work 12-15 hours a day. Her employer was fond of late night mah-jong parties and she would be asked to wait on the guests until early morning. She also had to wake up early the next day to do the laundry and prepare breakfast for the children of her employer.
Elsa could not stand the backbreaking work with her first employer. She decided to quit and look for a different employer. Her second employer was kinder and allowed her holidays or days off to go to church. Elsa missed her family, especially her children. She decided to save money so she could go home and start a business in the Philippines. Instead of buying presents for her children, Elsa spent her days off in church at the Chungli Parish.
Hope Workers Center
Through the Catholic community in Chungli, Elsa was introduced to the Hope Workers Center’s reintegration program. The program encourages migrant workers to save their money while working abroad. The migrant workers then organized themselves into reintegration and savings groups, support groups so they would encourage each other to set aside savings from their income every month.
The reintegration program for Filipinos is a joint project of Hope Workers Center and Unlad Kabayan. Through the program, Elsa was able to attend the Migrant Savings for Alternative Investment (MSAI) orientation of Unlad Kabayan. Elsa also joined the reintegration and savings group of Filipino migrant workers in Chungli. She decided not to send all her money home and advocated among fellow migrant workers the importance of savings.
Foreclosed rice mill
A few months before her contract ended, Elsa was informed by her sister in the Philippines about an auction of a foreclosed rice mill in Surigao. Elsa wanted to buy the property and manage the mill but she did not have enough money to bid for the property. Elsa shared her plans with the reintegration group in Taiwan. However, none of them wanted to join and invest in an enterprise in Mindanao, southern Philippines. Most of the members of the reintegration group were from Luzon, the northern island of the Philippines, and they were not keen on investing in an enterprise far from their province.
Elsa decided to look for other Filipinos willing to invest in the rice mill. Through perseverance, she found other Filipinos from Mindanao who were willing to invest. The mill was bought using the combined investment of fellow Filipinos and a Columban Missionary working at the Hope Workers Center.
At home again
Elsa, the biggest stockholder of the enterprise, has been at home in Surigao for some years now, managing the mill. Unlad Kabayan has assisted her in environmental scanning, feasibility studies and business plan formulation, and continues to help Elsa in business incubation and generating more capital for the project through savings and investment mobilization abroad. At present, the total savings mobilized for the enterprise has reached Php 3.9 million and the business employs 13 workers.
The project is engaged in five businesses: rice milling, palay trading, farm credit, agri-vet supply store, and leasing of farm machineries. Elsa handles the daily operations of the enterprises. She believes that every migrant worker can learn to be an entrepreneur and can successfully reintegrate into the community.
Cooking up profit
Social entrepreneurship as a key to development in the Philippines
By Justin Hakuta and Bernice Roldan
From http://traffickingproject.blogspot.com
Water boils. Machinery grinds and whirls. Dough is shredded into ribbons.
I’m at a factory in Davao surrounded by piles of pancit, the noodles sold everywhere in the Philippines. But it’s no ordinary factory—it’s an enterprise funded by overseas Filipinos saving the economy (in 2006, Filipinos sent home US $15 billion). Two seafarer brothers, the Jandugs, had combined their savings to build Best Choice factory, a small, prosperous, family-owned business run by a third brother, an ex-teacher.
Launched in 2001 with a loan from Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation, a social entrepreneurship-focused NGO in the Philippines, Best Choice produces pancit as well as fruit preserves and beans used in the Filipino dessert halo-halo (mix-mix).
From start-up to self-sustainability
Now self-sustainable, Best Choice has a full-time staff of 22 and has filled a niche market. But this transition from savings to concept, from start-up to self-sustainability didn’t happen overnight.
Because of Unlad’s business trainings and ongoing support, management is equipped with sound business skills and know-how. Best Choice is a glimmer of possibility for the Philippine economy. Billions of dollars pouring in from abroad can be used to create local employment, where perhaps one day Filipinos can choose between staying in their country or moving abroad for work out of preference, not necessity.
A for profit non-profit
Unlad is a leading non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on migration and social entrepreneurship in the Philippines. Formed in 1996, it pioneered the approach of arming returning migrants with the knowledge, skills, and support required to operate a successful business so they can be part of revitalizing the local economy instead of becoming a victim of it.
Successful Unlad projects include Best Choice, a coconut husk processing plant, a biodynamic farm, a rice center, and food processing as well as virgin coconut oil processing enterprises.
Read the full article at http://traffickingproject.blogspot.com/2007/04/cooking-up-profit.html. Justin Hakuta is a Fulbright Scholar studying NGOs combating human trafficking in the Philippines. Bernice Roldan is Advocacy Officer of Unlad Kabayan.In June 2007, this excerpt appeared in The Asian Journal (LA) and The Filipino-American Journal (Phoenix, AZ).
Coco coir project at business matching visit to Korea
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| Rotchie Ravelo (2nd from right) at the coco coir business matching visit to Korea |
The Davao Oriental Coco Husk Social Enterprise (DOCHSE), the coco coir project assisted by Unlad Kabayan, was one of five Philippine coco coir enterprises at a business matching visit to Seoul, Korea in March 2007.
DOCHSE, a social enterprise in San Isidro, Davao Oriental, is currently assisted by Unlad Kabayan through business incubation, in partnership with local NGO Kalumonan Development Foundation. The business matching visit to Korea was organized by the Bureau of Export Trade Promotion of the Department of Trade and Industry. The government agency provides assistance to potential and established exporters in the Philippines. Plant manager Rotchie Ravelo represented DOCHSE for the visit.
The objective of the trade mission was to promote and sell coco peat, as well as find better markets for coco fiber, geo-net and other coco coir-based products.
The Philippines is one of the largest coconut producers in the world. By-products such as coco coir and coco peat are valued for their special characteristics. Coco peat, the powder-like material obtained when the fiber is extracted from the coconut husk, can hold water eight times its volume. It is best used for horticultural purposes: soil mulching, composting, seedlings, hydrophonics, farming, and as a component of organic fertilizer.
During the visit, Korean partners highlighted the increasing demand for coco peat and dust in their country. After this fact-minding mission where DOCHSE observed the dynamics of the coco peat exportation business in Korea, preparations are being made, such as research development, and plans for purchasing machinery.
