It was an office day which are good and bad. I don't think Mike Glauser (USU faculty over SEED) wants us there as much as Mentors (the company) does but we are still trying to figure out our exact place in making a difference in this big old world so we do have our office days. Oh and this was the morning we had rice porridge for breakfast. I let myself splurge and have a Luna protein bar after. If they weren't a dollar each and 200 calories I could live off those. Anyway, instead of helping in the accounting department I spent the morning doing some research and finishing reading through the church's "Starting and Growing my Business" self-reliance program (Go Uncle Justy/Justie!...can't decide which spelling looks more masculine...or at least as masculine as the name Uncle Justie can be). Anyway, I had done quite a bit of talking around the office to find out how things truly work and why they do things the way they do. In most micro-finance mentoring and teaching programs the clients meet every week and receive homework assignments and such. Before someone receives a loan they must also go through a program before they even receive a loan. To my understanding that is how things are run in Peru and Ghana. Manila is a little but different though. It started off like that and they continued having weekly center meetings until about a year ago. A weekly center meeting is a great opportunity for teaching and reporting, however, Mentors couldn't afford to make their clients meet weekly anymore. The micro finance market in Manila is highly highly saturated and they were going to go under if they required new clients to go through a curriculum before receiving their loan or meeting weekly. Basically,if a woman needed a loan and didn't like the requirements Mentors wanted met, she would just go elsewhere. And as far as the real motivated and business-savvy women who truly want to grow their business and would happily meet weekly and keep commitments, well, there just aren't enough of them to compete in Manila. And thus, this is how Mentors Philippines transitioned from MENTORS Philippines to a lending program. In my opinion, not only does NOT meeting weekly NOT provide a good opportunity for teaching and growth it also attracts clients that may not really want to grow or don't payback on time. They are in a hard situation and the solution isn't simple or easy. Currently, the centers meet once a month and the group leaders every week. Because of this it is hard to have constant relationships with the Nanays in the grameen groups. I had to figure out how to teach them and make a difference with them, even if we couldn't see them consistently. I have been spending a lot of time thinking about what the most important message or lesson I can give them with limited interaction (these groups are different that the IL or individual loan clients I work with). Usually we emphasize record keeping. Okay, so back to Friday morning, I worked on creating a handout that had examples of what record keeping actually looks like. It starts with a budget, leads to a income and expense log, and then is completed on an income statement or profit and loss statement. My handout also gives some reasons why to record keep. It is hard because the women in the grameen groups are often making so little it is hard to teach the idea of having separate business and personal expenses and paying themselves a commission. Sometimes we can teach that but not too often. A lot of the time they have little idea of what is going on financially in their business and if it is even profitable at all. We also are going to teach the concept of saving. Mentors requires them to make deposits into a savings account but they still don't always get it. A lot of Filipinos live by what they call "hand to mouth". The women in the grameen groups definitely do. This means they have a hard time seeing in the future and spend all that they make that day, after all they do need to eat. But it isn't always as bad as they think and saving just a little, even a few pesos a day, could help them see that. Joel taught me about this. We even had the idea of doing some recycling and making them homemade piggy banks. I also have had the idea to create a little play for lack of better words or example of what recording keeping "looks" like... They write down how much they buy the items for their sari-sari store and then writing down how much the jeepney cost to get home and then how much they sell every single item for. It all sounds silly but I really want to help these women and realistically speaking, I think that I will only get to meet or see each of them a few times, if that, while I am here. I spent all morning trying to make a handout. While staring at spreadsheets and a computer screen didn't make me feel "loved" yet, telling you guys about it has made me realize that I probably accomplish more than I think I do here. I am trying and I am learning, A LOT.
So after the work on the handout, I ate my pack lunch and decided a Diet Coke and a trip to deliver a letter to the office might spread some Emi self-love. On my way home I stopped at the park in the middle of City Hall to drink my diet coke and get some sunshine. There is also a school there. Not only was I the only white person there but I was also the only person who choose to sit in the sun. Two girls about my age came and sat by me and we started talking. There was also a 13 year old (looked 8) boy who just came and parked his bike by me. The two girls worked there and were on their lunch break and the boy and his little brother just ride their bikes around all day while their uncle is at work, every single day. Before I knew it more little kids from the elementary school were gathering around. Soon there was a crowd of at least thirty. (Emily had posted a snapstory of this experience with the children. I assumed she was visiting a client at school or something because there were so many kids gathered around her laughing and smiling and talking to her...it warmed my heart to learn that it all began with a plea that morning to her Heavenly Father to know how he felt about her...and on her lunch break she had started on a park bench by herself and ended up surrounded by joyful smiles and laughter, all drawn to her for her friendly smile and demeanor. What a special answer to her plea to her Father. Ironically by the end of the week, I had sensed she was a little down and Thursday night at family prayers we prayed a little harder and little more specifically than usual for Ems...she's 15 hours ahead of us, so do the math...). They think I am an "artista". Some of them even thought I was Arianna Grande. It wasn't the fact that they think I am pretty though and all their pictures and videos that made me feel loved. It was talking to the two girls about themselves and life in the Philippines and my life in America that made me feel God's love. Of course, everyone's smiles, laughs, and joy for life helped me to be happy too. They think I am the most beautiful person ever, even when I think otherwise. I hope though to be beautiful for my heart and not my skin or hair color. I told everyone I would come back on Wednesday and they all followed and yelled my name as I walked away. I will have to think of a game or something we can do at lunch Wednesday. If only I spoke Tagalog... dang it. Yoga Glo also showed me some love too when they refunded me my money for the month of February and gave me three free months. It made me so happy. I still haven't been able to do a class. But hopefully coming March I will be able to. We watched Pursuit of Happiness for foodie Friday (love Joel) which also has a good message. That night I felt like a local because we got to the movie theater without taking an Uber. We saw Zootopia (yes, a kids animated Disney movie) and it was so so good! It had me laughing out loud. I don't think it comes out until March 4th in the states. You guys have to go for me!
This is already long but I feel impress to share one more thing. My sisters don't need to read the whole email but I learned something new and I want to share. Last Sunday at church I felt impressed that I should re do my Individual Worth and Divine Nature personal progress values. The first one in individual was how they first experience of a value usually is, read a list of scriptures and write in your journal how you feel or what you learned. This is what I wrote that night,
Individual Worth
#1 – February 14, 2016
I loved these scriptures. Today, is Valentine’s Day and I was prompted by the Spirit today to complete the individual worth and divine nature values again. Out of the batch of scriptures my favorite was in Abraham 3: 22-23. I learned that we were organized or created before the world was because we are God’s greatest creation. We are not God’s greatest creation though for what we look like but for who we are. I came to earth to receive a mortal body. That means, that in this organization before the world was that I had not received a body yet. I was noble and great for simply what my spirit was. I was a soul who was in the presence of God. He chose Abraham to accomplish the things He needed him to accomplish for who Abraham’s spirit or soul was. I know that I was chosen to accomplish a great work. I was given a body to fulfill that great purpose. My body must be healthy to fulfill His will but I was not given my body for what it looks like but for what it can do, which is fulfill God’s plan. I know Heavenly Father loves me because of what I read in the scriptures. I also know that he is mindful of me because of the angels he has placed in my life. Part of their plans were to be a blessing in my life. It is not what they look like that has blessed my life but the comfort, friendship, advice, love, joy, and light they have shown.
Abraham 3: 22-23
Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; And god saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham thou art one of them; though was chosen before thou was born."
Then next experience is about patriarchal blessings. I read mine and noticed that it says I am a "choice SPIRIT from my Father in Heaven". It confirmed to me what I had learned the other night. I am grateful for my body and I came to earth to receive a body. Our bodies can DO amazing and wonderful things. But we are also more than just bodies. I am grateful for a Father in Heaven who loves me. I am also grateful for family and friends who love me. I am even more grateful that I have family and friends who I LOVE and that I have knowledge of a Savior and Father in Heaven who I LOVE.
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