FROM THE MARGINS
Super typhoon Karding left a trail of destruction in Luzon last week. As I scrolled though photos of massive flooding and agricultural crops laid to waste, I cannot help but sigh, realizing that life is becoming harder for many Filipinos. With rising inflation and growing poverty, the challenge for us in the development sector is now even greater. We are called upon to intensify efforts to enable those in the margins to help themselves and others like them.
I recall Arlene Aquino’s story. She makes pots and earthen jars in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, her pottery business their family’s source of income for years. Arlene’s microfinance organization has enabled her not just to grow her business, but to help other poor women in their community. Arlene is a Center chief, tasked to lead and facilitate support for other members of their organization.
The spirit of damayan – the giving of mutual aid – is very much alive in microfinance. For practitioners like me, there is no sweeter reward than to see Arlene and others like her help their fellow members rise above poverty.
‘Center’ dynamics
Microfinance gives the poor access to savings, credit, insurance and other financial products, as well as training, health education and other services. Group approach is a common methodology, where members – primarily women — are organized into “Centers.” The weekly Center meetings serve as training ground for members’ growth and development. It serves as a venue for them to interact with each other, discuss plans, and explore solutions to problems they encounter. This is also the mechanism by which the microfinance officer monitors members and delivers services.
The Centers facilitate women empowerment, as members are taught to organize themselves into groups and elect their leaders. The nanays, titas, and ates who play very important roles are the Center chief, secretary, and treasurer. They facilitate regular Center meetings and assist the account officers (AOs) in delivering microfinance services, training programs and other development interventions to their members.
Center meetings usually start at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. in the morning. Arlene as Center chief would preside over the meeting, with the secretary calling the roll: if the member is on time, her name is ticked in black or blue pen; if the member is late, she is asked to sign in red pen; if absent, her name is marked A in red ink; and, if excused due to sickness, pregnancy and other justifiable reasons, she is marked E in blue or black ink. They do it this way to determine the Center’s attendance at one glance. The Center treasurer would then collect the loan amortization, savings and insurance premium contributions from the members. With the AOs’ help, she would record everything in the passbook of individual members and take note of those who are not able to pay.
Being a Center officer entails a lot of sacrifices. Arlene and her officers do a lot of work outside of the Center meetings. They talk to individual members to remind them of meetings and their attendant obligations. They motivate and instill credit discipline to insure a 100 percent repayment rate. They help improve their members’ businesses by sharing experiences, and after each meeting, they visit members who miss payment. Assisted by the AO, they try to find ways to help solve their member’s problems. They do all these voluntarily, on top of running their microenterprises, doing housework, and taking care of their families.
Support is extended to everyone. For a time, Arlene herself got sick with debilitating migraines and was unable to discharge her duties as Center chief. Her friend Rosalina Tolentino, assisted by the AO, performed Arlene’s job on top of her own responsibilities as Treasurer until she became well. Center dynamics lift not just the group but the individual members.
Facilitators and community leaders
Women in microfinance are trained in organizing, financial literacy, business development, health education, among others. These trainings, reinforced in Center activities, have a positive influence in their day-to-day lives. As a result, many of them, especially the Center officers, take on more active roles in their families and business undertaking. They eventually become leaders in their communities.
The support of Center officers are indispensable to microfinance workers and local government leaders during calamities. They help in identifying families who are affected and who are not. This facilitates the delivery of relief goods and other services. The Center leaders also help validate their members’ insurance claims. This is why there is almost no fraud in microinsurance MBAs.
Women in microfinance participate more in community affairs and the political process, because of their exposure to Center activities. Many have become barangay and municipal officials, their politics imbued with a developmental perspective and a deep understanding of community development. They are rays of light that illuminate our political landscape.
Former US First Lady Michelle Obama once said that “the difference between a broken community and a thriving one is the presence of women who are valued.” Let us support women in microfinance. They have a special role in eradicating poverty in the country.
(Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip is a poverty eradication advocate. He is the founder of the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually-Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI), a group of 23 organizations that provide social development services to eight million economically-disadvantaged Filipinos and insure more than 27 million nationwide.)