Dam, they’re good!

"the whole purpose of creating the company and the cooperative is to provide livelihood opportunities for the women who were relocated as a result of the San Roque Multipurpose Project (srmp)," says Carol Cunningham, managing director of the catchily-named Dam Good Stuff, Inc. (dgsi).

She is referring to the San Roque Multipurpose Project, located on the Agno River, nearly 200 kms. north of Manila, and whose completion more than a year ago threatened to leave local communities without livelihood. Nearly 800 households in San

Manuel and San Nicolas in Itogon, Benguet and Pangasinan were relocated because of the construction of the srmp.

Majority of the affected families chose to self-relocate, one of several options offered by the National Power Corporation at the time. Many found themselves at a crossroads, because the work opportunities created by this big project dried up after the srmp was completed in early 2003.

For instance, at the peak of the project’s construction, 5,000 employees were needed. Today, there are only 120 employees needed to operate and maintain the srmp.

But adversity also leads to opportunities – combined with the fact that the affected people are willing to learn diverse livelihood skills such as weaving cloth and making quilts, garments, bags, jewelry and other products, which have helped them cope with the displacement the completion of srmp would have meant.

Enter Dam Good Stuff.

It was her husband Raymond, Carol says, who first came to the Philippines seven years ago as part of the groups that helped in the construction of the srmp. "I would join my husband, but it was on and off during the first two years," shares Carol.

But it was inevitable that she would end up in Benguet with her husband. There, a fondness for the people from Itogon developed. "I loved the fiestas," says Carol. "I saw in the kids a closeness which I seldom see in New York where I am from."

Dam Good Stuff, a name coined by Raymond, has around 55 women today who work in the cooperative that supplies the company with the items it markets. "What we are trying to do is create a product that is very interesting to the export market," shares Carol. She knows that the competition in the jewelry business is very stiff because products coming from China are very cheap and there are other low-cost products available.

Carol says that she likes to run the company just like she would an American company. There are no bag searches when a worker enters and they are not searched either when they leave. This way, the women at the Coop look at the company as their own and they also police their ranks. "We had a few problems but nothing that we could not handle. And we also noticed that the women are more responsible for what happens in the Coop," relates Carol.

Design development of the jewelry was an in-house effort. "We had sort of a test group because we had 60 expat women living at the camp at the time," Carol explains. "We would design products and we would ask them to critique them."

Dam Good Stuff has been around for a little over a year now, and Carol has her hands full running the business. At the start, Carol found it hard to market the jewelry because of the quotas that had to be met in the US, but she learned how to manage this as well.

It all started with a memory wire bracelet which everyone thought was really cool, says Carol. "We thought we could teach the women in the Coop how to make these," shares Carol. She bought materials from the US, the bracelets were made and were sold out immediately.

Today, the jewelry that Dam Good Stuff makes are sold both locally and in the US, Switzerland and Europe. "But all this is changing radically," Carol declares. "We are getting really good export customers who are coming back and re-ordering from us."

In the local market, there is Kamiseta and Broadway Gems.

The bi-annual Manila International F.A.M.E trade fair is another venue where Carol has marketed her jewelry. "I am excited to see how we will do. I know that we will be either really good or . . .," says Carol.

Some of the Coop members are regular employees, including the women who have been with Dam Good Stuff from the start. These women are guaranteed a salary whether or not there are orders, thus making this a stable source of income for them and increasing their stake in the business. "We want to make sure that these women have a steady income because it is important for us to have a core group," opines Carol. There are other women who want to join the Coop and for these women, Dam Good Stuff asks them to join a one-week training seminar. If they do well, the company then pays for their membership in the Coop.

"Why only women?" we query.

"I believe that these women deserve to get the jobs. During the construction of the dam the men had the jobs," reasons Carol. Besides, Carol adds that the women are more responsible with their money because they are concerned with the education of their kids.

Dam Good Stuff has only a few main requirements for their women workers: They should be willing to work, take pride in what they do and be trustworthy.

"Although we have had a few problems, the women that we work with seem to have learned that with the freedom that they are given comes responsibility. We try very hard to make our company run on the honor system," quips Carol.

For the employees, promotions are based on achievement and production and not on length of tenure. "Who you know might get you an interview, but it won’t assure you of a job," she adds.

As the business grows, Carol is doing all she can to make sure that it continues to move forward. Keeping up with the trends in the jewelry business is at the top of her agenda. "We get all the fashion magazines we can. This way we know what the trends are," shares Carol. She is also amazed at how a few women who design for Dam Good Stuff, who are from Pangasinan, are able to learn just from following the patterns in the magazines she gives them to study. "And they also come up with their own designs," she adds. "We also want the women to come to Manila so they can see what the markets here have to offer."

In the meantime, Carol is always on the lookout for where she can get the best price for the materials they use for their bracelets. The pearls, semi-precious stones and sterling silver she gets from China, as they are cheapest there. Carol shares with us that she even bumps into some of the owners of Greenhills stores buying their pearls in China.

"It is very hard to buy sterling silver here at a competitive price because what we have here is handmade. In China, they are made by machine," explains Carol.

Frustrating is how Carol describes dealing with the Philippine government. "One thing that drives me crazy is the government and bureaucracy. I find it so unbelievable that it is so difficult to do the simplest thing," she sighs. "I feel that because of what we are doing the government should be welcoming us. Why do they make it so tough?"

Still, it’s been seven good years for the Cunninghams. "We love it here," says Carol. Dam or no dam, they have no plans of leaving anytime soon.