Romela Cahilig

Romela is a woman with something to prove - to her parents and to others who believed that she would account to nothing because she married very young and had no bankable working skills. Romela is now 34 years old and lives in the village of Purok Camansi, Brgy. Mailum, Bago City, Negros Occidental with her husband who works as a security guard, and their three children. The oldest is now 17 years old and is studying aeronautics, the second is 16 years old, and is in the fourth year of high school, and the youngest is 11 and is still in elementary school.

When Romela married and got pregnant while still a teenager, her parents were disappointed because they thought all their dreams and aspirations for her would come to naught. They were worried about how she would survive in the future. Acquaintances and relatives thought that she was throwing her life away. She proved all of them wrong by sheer will, determination and tirelessly working hard along with her husband to make a life for their young family.

While she was pregnant with her first child, her parents decided to close their business of buying and selling firewood and bamboo poles. Seeing an opportunity to help her husband by earning her own living, Romela decided to take over the business operations that her parents were closing up. With only the small amount of capital that her husband could provide, she was able to continue dealing with the same suppliers. She earned the loyalty of the same customers because they did not have to go somewhere else. By planning her cash flow well, she was able to maintain the business and slowly make it into a stable source of income.

After several years, Romela saw that she needed to earn more if she was to provide her children with a better future. Her problem was where to find the necessary additional capital so that she could expand her business. When someone told her about NWTF-Project Dungganon, she immediately asked her husband's permission to join so that she could access the much-needed additional capital to increase her stocks of firewood and bamboo poles through loans that she could pay in weekly installments.

Her business grew and she was able to increase her income, allowing her to afford her children's education and save for their future. She used her 3rd cycle loan to purchase a tricycle - a motorcycle with a side car - which she uses in her business, allowing her to make deliveries of the firewood and bamboo poles to her regular customers, increasing her income potential even further.

In the five years since she became an NWTF-Project Dungganon member, her business continues to improve and it earns approximately $225 a month for her family. Her previous loan - the 19th cycle loan amounting Php 10,000 - was used as additional capital for the business and it was fully paid on time without any delays. For her 20th cycle loan she proposes to get the same amount of Php 10,000 as additional capital for her business. Her future plan is to expand her business and put up a general store.

About NWTF:
In a world full of challenges, Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Inc. has answered the calling of not just of a few but thousands of women. Through the alleviation program, these women have progressed from earning less than a measly $1 a day, to surpassing the realities beyond their dreams. They have learned to live a life where they can finally be called honorable. This is Project Dungganon.

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