PSHF

Mary Ann (30) was born out of wedlock. Her father, Herman, was her mother’s employer; he was from a well-to-do family and his parents did not want him to marry Melanie, her mother. They separated before Mary Ann was born, and Melanie went her own way leaving Mary Ann with her grandmother. When she was five years old, Mary Ann was placed in an orphanage. She stayed there until she had finished her first year of high school. After that, she went to live with her grandmother again, and three years later, she met Mario Magbanua (now 35), who was to become her common-law husband when she was just 16 years old.

Mary Ann and Mario have four children: John Mark (12), Maria Mae (7), Mica (3) and Jeo (1). Home to the family is a modest native house in Rodriquez Baybay, a squatter area not far from the square of Bacolod city. Mario supports his family by transporting passengers on a “trisikad,” a bicycle with a sidecar, which he was able to buy through a PSHF loan in October last year.

Presently, Mario rides his trisikad for seven hours a day. His average daily income is 200 pesos which is an improvement from his daily income of 170 pesos before the PSHF loan, when he was renting a trisikad. The increase in Mario’s income however is not really significant as expenses are increasing proportionately. Two children in the family are attending school, and the eldest, John Mark, will enter high school next school year, and this naturally means bigger outgoings for the family.

In the light of the above, Mary Ann is keen to have a livelihood of her own so she can supplement Mario’s income. She came to us and applied for a loan of 3,500 pesos to enable her to buy and sell bananas and mangoes, in the downtown area, outside one of the popular malls in the city. She believes that she can sell 1,000 bananas and 40 kilos of mangoes in a week. This will give her a net income of 1,000 pesos (¥2,000) a week.

Mary Ann is hopeful that her efforts will bring about a significant improvement in the living conditions of her family. She is very grateful to the PSHF for this further loan assistance to her family.

Glitter H. Moreño 

PSHF Negros Occidental 

December 2012