On January 14, 2010, 16 women went to observe a Self-Help Group (SHeG). A SHeG, they discovered, is a group of poor women who are from the same geographic location and who work together towards the same goal: escaping poverty. One of the basic steps of Self-Help Approach (SHA) is collects weekly contributions, which each member is required to give. The savings fund is then loaned to the members in cases of emergency or as business capital. As a group, they form their own policies and designate a moderator, representative, and book keeper. They meet every week to talk about upcoming activities, amendments of policies, updates on the fund, and other transactions. They have to embrace the self-help principle, which states that in order to alleviate poverty, they have to affirm their choices, rights, and opportunities, and to fight discrimination, disparity, domination, displacement, de-humanization etc.
Having seen the positive effects of the SHA, these women from Brgy. Baagate in Barcelona, Sorsogon decided to form their own SHeG. On February 21, 2010, the SHeG named Working Girls had their first meeting.
Bicol Center for Community Development (BCCD) is the non-government organization (NGO) that facilitates the SHeGs in Barcelona, Sorsogon. Currently, a project officer and seven community facilitators are in charge of giving trainings and workshops to the SHeGs. The members of Working Girls includes some of the participants who have benefited from seminars on parenthood, cooking, and other livelihood projects.
One of the goals of SHA is to help poor women have their own economic means so they will not be dependent solely on their husbands. Most of the members of Working Girls are housewives who make handicrafts, so some of them have started raising pigs to have some additional income. “Sa tulong ng SHeG, nakapagtayo ako ng babuyan. Bumili ako ng dalawang baboy“ (With the help of SHeG, I was able to start my own piggery. I bought two pigs for a start), said Rowena Enteria, one of the original members of Working Girls. She also added that being in a SHeG taught them how to handle their own money and trained them to become business-minded.
With three kids who go to school, Mary Ann Gamas, another handicraft maker, admitted that she sometimes have to borrow money from the SHeG fund in order to meet the needs of her children. “Nakakautang ako pagwalang baon ang bata, at kung may projects“ (I can borrow [money] if my children have no pocket money for school or if there are projects), she said. Presently, Working Girls has one of the biggest saving funds among the SHeGs in Barcelona. With a SHeG fund of more than P100,000, they have started loaning to people outside their SHeG.
Meeting every week gives these housewives a chance to go out of their houses and socialize with other wives. In SHeG meetings, they are able to make each other laugh and share each other’s problems. Julie Ann Florano, 29, attests to the transformation of the SHeG created in her since they started meeting weekly. She was one of the quiet ones when Working Girls was just starting. She used to hate going out to socialize, but when she got the chance to get to know the other members, she eventually came out of her shell and became comfortable with sharing her views during their meetings. “Simula nung makasali ako dito, natuto na kong makipaghalubilo kasi dati hindi ako marunong makihalubilo“(Since I joined this, I learned to socialize, which I did not know how to do before)” she said.
Four years after, Working Girls is now well-known in their municipality for being one of the most successful SHeGs. Women from other places who are interested in forming their own groups come to observe them during their meetings. Working Girls serves as a testimony of how women who work together towards a common goal can make a positive impact not only to their own lives but to the lives of others as well.
Katryn Anne Uytiepo has a degree in Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communication from De La Salle University, Manila. She’s interested in writing, reading and graphic design.