Organizing for Development: Vegetable Growers of St. Cyril Parish, Quirino

A Wednesday afternoon in Quirino Province, in a church nestled in the foothills of the Cordillera mountains, twenty or so women gather in St. Cyril Episcopal Church to discuss the policies and procedures for their newly formed cooperative organization. Most of the members sustain their livelihoods through vegetable farming, making barely enough to cover household expenses.

E-CARE community organizers walk in to join the meeting. The agenda for the day is to finalize the organization’s policies and procedures for member lending. E-CARE must oversee the process to ensure guidelines are in place so community.

The discussion begins with Jane, this community’s E-CARE project officer, making recommendations for the group and sharing policies of the Receivers 2 Givers program (through which community groups avail of funds which they then grant onto other communities in the program). The organization’s leaders, too, share their ideas, and members evaluate what will be best for their purposes.

The main point of discussion was the amount of share capital members should contribute before being able to borrow from the organization’s funds. Some were unhappy the set amount of individual share capital was so high (10% of the total amount they seek to borrow) because it prohibited them from borrowing a higher amount. However, this policy is necessary to ensure members don’t borrow more than they are able to repay and go into debt. E-CARE must ensure members are borrowing responsibly, so we oversee the fledgling organization’s policy development.

After the meeting, community members share their stories. This woman, like most in the organization, is a vegetable farmer. She appreciates how the AWD trainings
have equipped her with household budgeting skills. She avails of R2G funds and is thankful that the add-on is lower than interest rates of available lending options, so her family can increase their household income to send their children to school.

Another woman also avails of R2G funds to support her vegetable farming livelihood. She has struggled to make payments on time but is working hard to grantback and using skills gained through trainings.

All members share a similar experience: enhancing financial literacy through trainings, increasing their household income through the R2G program. Furthermore, as a whole, the community is enhancing their social capital -- forming bonds of trust and developing their ability to work together.

(Stay tuned -- videos coming soon!)

Back to the Philippines!

After a spell in the States, I’m back in Santiago City, Isabela Province in the Philippines! I’ve been back only one week so far but have hit the ground running with our sustainable rice cultivation project promoting the alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation technique (which reduces methane emissions by 50% and uses 30% less water!).

Getting lost on a community visit to Diduyon, Quirino Province

Along with fellow E-CARE (Episcopal Community Action for Renewal and Empowerment) staff and the Bishop of the Diocese of Santiago, we visited several rural communities for organization development meetings and Receivers to Givers (R2G) fund disbursement. Being situated in the mountains, this required some off-roading and a bit of getting lost on provincial roads but were rewarded with views of green mountains as far as the eye can see.

This tour, I’ve been active with the video camera, interviewing farmers from E-CARE partner communities, capturing harvest time with new mechanization and even touring one of the largest rice mills in the world back in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Stay tuned!