Mentors
We are pleased to work in association with this wonderful and worthwhile organization that works to reach the world's poorest people across three continents. Mentors provides microcredit (small loans made at market interest rates) with training in business fundamentals and personalized consulting and mentoring. In this way, they provide the tools for micro-entrepreneurs to make sound business decisions. In addition, mentoring provides the tailored support needed to build individual character and a better life while they support and empower mothers of all faiths and nationalities.
Enterprise- Mentors International, an organization that provides families and businesses in America to partner with us in lifting mothers and their children out of poverty in developing countries. We all understand the importance of lifting mothers in America—knowing this will be the best answer to our troubled families— it is equally important to lift mothers worldwide. Successful mothers everywhere will be the best answer to the troubles faced by all the nations of the earth. You can make a difference here and across the globe.
Did you know that half of the more than six billion inhabitants of this earth live on less than two dollars a day? Did you know that fully one-third of the people on our planet live on less than one dollar per day? Did you know that nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names? That 1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world)? That 640 million live without adequate shelter, that 400 million have no access to safe water, that 10.6 million die each year before they reach the age of 5 because of malnutrition (about 29,000 children every single day)?
The sad part of this scenario is that poverty is preventable; in fact, poverty is man-made. If greed and graft could be overcome, there would be a proper distribution of the earth's resources. Microcredit and microenterprise, along with mentoring, is one of the best answers to alleviating this problem. Let me share with you the stories of two very special mothers our organization has helped to lift from dire poverty through small loans, a little mentoring, and the old-fashioned value of hard work.
- Dionisia Fernandez
- Elvira Booc
- Juanita Bantilles
- Leoncia Gempesao
- Maralyn Tigue
- Marena Degamo
- Maria Mendez
- Mary Lynn Tilag
- Rosario Bangot
- Virgia Guma
Sadia Tumarumpong
Mindanao, Philippines is locally called the "Land of Promise" – with its mountainous terrain, rich sea life, and the abundance of tropical fruits. Unfortunately, it is also notorious for the protracted wars and conflicts between separatists and the government. Peace-loving people wait helplessly in the hope that they will no longer be caught in between gunfire.
Sadia Tumarumpong was able to lift herself and her family out of this dire situation.
When she was 10, Sadia's family was driven out of their small town of Cotobato. They moved from place to place to find shelter, but as rebel groups attacked, the family had to evacuate numerous times. Then, Sadia married Kazim and they began their own family. They decided to settle in Manila to find better employment and leave the war-torn province.
Urban life in Manila was unkind to the family. Kazim managed to have only seasonal work at construction sites so Sadia opened a small convenience store in their house and earned $2 on a good day.
One day, her husband found a Mentors Manila flyer. When Sadia read about the program, she was reluctant at first Ð she had never borrowed money from anyone Ð but her dreams of providing a better future for her family led her to attend a Mentors training session and receive her first loan.
She used her initial business loan to open a halo-halo (a cold snack consisting of mixed fruits served with crushed ice and milk) business and added whatever income she derived from this business to her store. With sound financial discipline and a dream to keep her going, her business steadily survived and improved.
Sadia is currently on her ninth business loan cycle and now also operates a dry goods store. Her enterprising spirit has even brought her into the world of real estate, where she leases out seven rooms, providing her family with a steady, monthly income. With this income, she was able to buy their home and send her children to college.
Sadia told me, "I grew up very, very poor and surrounded by the constant terror of war. It brings tears to my eyes to think of how much has changed. My life is completely different now because Enterprise Mentors took a chance on me. I have learned simple and practical business skills, ethics and values and have developed a sense of social responsibility and leadership. I have removed myself and my family out of poverty and have truly achieved self-reliance."
Teresita Viray
When her husband passed away unexpectedly more than seven years ago, Teresita Viray did not know what would become of her family. Without a job or income, her future seemed bleak. Then a friend invited her to attend a Mentors Manila Center Group Meeting in her neighborhood. She learned that she could take out a small loan in order to start a little business. Her first loan was just 3,000 pesos, about $60.
"I used the money to start a tiny Sari Sari store," she said. That was seven years ago. Six months later she had repaid the loan and was ready for her second loan of 5,000 pesos. She has now repaid eight loans (her last was for 33,000 pesos) and is preparing for her 9th loan cycle. Her once small Sari Sari store has grown to become a well established grocery store. With shelf after shelf of neatly arranged canned goods, fresh foods, and other personal and grocery items, her grocery store is the pride of the neighborhood.
"I'm very happy," smiled Teresita , tears welling in her eyes. "I am so grateful for Mentors. Since I opened my store, it has been possible for me to buy food for my family and helped with the education of my children. My youngest son is now in his fourth year at the university and is studying business management. I am so proud I have been able to support him.
"But I am also proud to have accomplished something I had never even dreamed about before. I have learned how to operate a business. I've learned accounting processes for my grocery store and how to do inventory. I want to even have a bigger store someday where I can buy a truck and make deliveries!"
The road for Teresita has not been easy, but she will be forever grateful. "My children are so happy for me," she said. "Even though their father is not alive, I have been able to support my family. Without my store I don't know where I'd be."
During a recent visit to the Philippines, one of our board members made an incredible statement. After visiting some of the special mothers we have been helping with loans and mentoring, he said, "Microenterprise taps into the most powerful human force on earth, a mother's desire to care for her children."
Bill Gates gave at the 2007 Harvard Commencement Exercises. They are illuminating remarks. He said:
"I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world—the appalling disparities of health, wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair. Reducing inequity is the highest human achievement. I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you have addressed the world's deepest inequities—on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity."
Visit their site at: http://www.enterprise-mentors.org
