Mindanaotoday.com | A little strategy, and a lot of consistency to defy the odds
THOUSANDS of people from Mindanao, Philippines, have been fleeing their homes for decades because of protracted armed conflicts.
Among the different levels of impact on their everyday lives, their displacement has resulted in lost livelihood opportunities for many residents.
While many Mindanawons continue to suffer from instability because of the conflict, some have been able to rebuild their lives.
A few have also set up their own successful businesses through the microeconomic initiative (MEI) programme of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The programme provides vocational training, grants and microcredit support to people affected by conflict and disabled people.
A microeconomic grant can be used to either start or expand a business venture.
It also places beneficiaries at the heart of the decision-making process, giving them greater ownership of the income-generating project.
Here are a few stories that give us a peek at the hope and courage that people affected by conflict muster every day to deal with their challenges.
Hadiyah’s* life is marked by loss and a sudden turn of events. Yet the 42-year-old is holding on to faith and family, doing everything she can to rise again.
Hadiyah was once a resident of Marawi, a bustling city full of shops and small businesses, and the proud owner of a successful shop in Padian market where she sold warm, home-cooked meals.
Hadiyah’s shop was doing well and she earned a decent income. Two of her sons had gotten married and established their own businesses while her younger children were pursuing their education and weaving big dreams for themselves.
Everything was going well for the family until one sunny day in May 2017 when armed conflict broke out in Marawi.
Hadiyah immediately called her husband to check in on him and their children.
“[But] the situation escalated quickly. The next thing I knew, I was already in Pantar, Lanao del Norte, with two of our sons who were working with me at the store,” recalls Hadiyah, five years after the siege.
“It was devastating to leave the store and our house that we had put years of labour and hard work into. [Because of the conflict] they were reduced to nothing but rubble,” she adds.
After a week of separation, while Hadiyah was reunited with her husband Daud* and seven other children, her youngest son could not be located.
“My world turned upside down when he disappeared. It was like his disappearance cast a dark cloud over our family. Life had been getting better for us till crisis struck,” says Hadiyah.
For months since the conflict broke out, Hadiyah and her family lived in an evacuation centre in
Saguiaran town.
With nothing more than the clothes on their backs, they relied on aid from humanitarian organizations and the government for survival.
The little money Hadiyah had saved was spent in searching for her missing son but to no avail.
The family then relocated to a transitory site in Saguiaran, Lanao del Sur.
But because of limited financial assistance, they struggled even more. Daud worked as a carpenter, while Hadiyah grew crops in their backyard but money continued to be tight and their children often went hungry.
“There were times when we ate only one meal a day,” she says. With no hope in sight, Hadiyah had no choice but to send two of her children to General Santos, a city some 360 kilometres away from Saguiaran, to work for their relatives.
Help came through the ICRC’s microeconomic initiative, which helps beneficiaries start their own businesses and generate income.
Hadiyah used the cash grant she received to open a corner store along a busy highway in Poblacion, Saguiaran, selling sugar, coffee, soft drinks, soap and some fruits.
The cash grant became a turning point in Hadiyah’s life.
“I just needed the capital to start [my business] again. When I received it, I did not waste any time and set up a small store along a busy highway where I stocked products that I knew would sell easily. The location helped to draw in customers and business picked up over time,” says Hadiyah, who began earning enough to support the family again and was able to get her sons back to live with her.
But success did not come easy. Hadiyah shares that there were days when she had no customers and the products did not sell.
Worse, some of the food items either rotted or expired.
“Running a store is a gamble. Profit is not constant and success is not guaranteed. You have to be consistent. Some days are definitely better than others. In fact, I just opened my second store.
Alhamdulillah,” she says.
Daud has also joined his wife in managing the booming business and they plan to expand even their first store to sell groceries for a more sustainable income.
Sharing tips that they have learned as entrepreneurs, Hadiyah says one has to be strategic about what they sell.
“You have to take advantage of peak seasons too. For example, during Ramadan, canned milk and fruits are popular. And when laborers are busy with construction work, I sell cooked meals. Right now, soft drinks have been selling the most. I store them in a fridge that I bought using my grant. Pair your consistency with strategy and you are good to go,” she exclaims.
While Hadiyah is happy that they can provide well for the family and send two of their younger
children to school, she cannot stop thinking about her missing son, Hakim.*
“Not a day goes by when I do not think about him,” she says tearfully.
She holds on to the hope that he managed to survive the conflict and will one day be reunited with the family.
(*Names have been changed to protect identity.)
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