On the 17th of May, I (Analyn) together with PSHF founder, Richard Foster and our colleague Phadelyn, set off for Tanjay, one of the six cities of the province of Negros Oriental. Our destination is the remote barangay of Santo Niño and it will take us four hours to get there. The journey comprises two bus rides and then a 20 minute ride on motorcycles to the home of Helma, our local field worker. She greets us warmly and there are smiles of welcome from a dozen or so women who are seated on benches in the shade of the covered porch outside her home. Some of these women are here to receive their approved loans and sign their contracts whereas others are loan applicants who will be interviewed or enquirers for whom Phadelyn will conduct an orientation.

 

One of the applicants is thirty-seven year old Meshiel Lopez. She is married to Bimbo (48) and they have three children aged 5 to 10 years old. The couple both work as sugarcane farm laborers earning a combined income of 6,000 pesos ($105) per month. During the off-season, Bimbo works as a construction labourer.

 

For a month now, Meshiel has been earning some additional income from selling string beans, onions and squash which she grows in her garden. This is giving her an additional income of 1,500 pesos ($27) a month. Meshiel is thinking of expanding her business by purchasing stock from other vegetable farmers in Sto. Niño. She is applying for a loan for this purpose. 

 

Meshiel would like to sell bananas, mangoes, peppers, garlic and cabbage. She will go to the town center of Tanjay on the back of Bimbo’s motorcycle with her fruit and vegetables in sacks tied to a wooden plank extension to the motorcycle. Meshiel will sell her products from a small table in the market. With a mark-up of 40%, Meshiel hopes to increase her income by 4,000 pesos ($70) a month from this venture.

 

Before concluding my interview with Meshiel, I ask her about her dreams for the future. She told me simply that she would just like her children to finish school. She and Bimbo are only elementary school graduates themselves and they would love their children to go beyond what they achieved.

 

It has been a pleasure getting to know Meshiel today and I wish her every success with her vegetable and fruit retailing business. 

 

Analyn T. Gallibot

PSHF Negros Oriental

May 2024