P5,000 loan builds a successful business

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY , Philippines  â€“ Sweat drips from his forehead as he adds firewood for his boiling pot of water. His face is reddened and wrinkled by the toil of long days and nights, but Joel Obsid, 46 and a father of four, is accustomed to this.

Joel once worked as a medical representative. His wife is an office clerk, but her wage can barely support the family’s basic needs. Three of their children still live with them, all of them of school age.

In November 2011, Joel recalls, Tropical Storm Sendong struck and took from him everything it could. He lost his job and his home. His family was spared, but there was nothing for them to return to.

Having no income but with a family to feed, Joel urgently needed to find a new job, which was hard to come by after the storm. He started a small hanging rice business, a trade he learned from his mother-in-law that seemed to be his only option, but he lacked financial capital.

With three children still in school and their home in shambles, there was no money left to build a business. Then things took a turn for the better.

In February 2012, Joel received a P5,000 loan from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), through the Sustainable Livelihood Program. Joel continues to receive financial literacy and skills enhancement trainings from the DSWD through the program. Furthermore, his family also received a housing unit from the DSWD’s partner organization, Habitat for Humanity.

Less than a year after Sendong wreaked havoc, Joel’s family relocated to a new home in barangay Canitoan, still within the city. Not only that, but he was finally able to start his hanging rice business.

Every piece of hanging rice begins from a carefully woven coconut leaf. After which, uncooked rice is poured into the woven pocket, and then boiled until the rice is cooked. It is hung when sold, thus the name hanging rice.

Joel’s family is one of the 237,501 poor households assisted by the Sustainable Livelihood Program. Under the program, participants are provided with capital assistance for starting and managing micro-enterprises or are provided with employment opportunities through partnerships with both private and public institutions.

Qualified participants are assessed based on their financial and social performance to identify the requirements of an enterprise for business growth. Appropriate training activities and other follow through interventions are continuously provided for the participants to improve their existing micro-enterprise.

Today, Joel sell his hanging rice business for P3 each in the Cogon public market. Making up to 3,000 pieces of hanging rice from one and a half sacks of sinandomeng rice daily, Joel’s business has gained a following and earns a daily net profit of more than P1,000.

He hopes that the business will allow him to send his children to school until they finish college. After all, the business has taken his family from ground zero and to a new life.