ONE STITCH AT A TIME — University of the Sunshine Coast-Students in Free Enterprise (USC-SIFE) members brought in sewing materials from Australia to teach a group of women basic sewing skills.

MANILA, Philippines — While most foreigners come to the Philippines for rest and recreation, some come here to change lives.

For instance, a group of students from the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) in Queensland, Australia recently embarked on a mission that they will never forget.

They are members of USC Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE), a non-profit organization that gives students an opportunity to take their skills beyond the classroom and gain real world experience through community-based projects. Through USC-SIFE, these students created their first international project called the Kuya Collaborative. In partnership with Kuya Center for Streetchildren, the students from Australia brought in sewing machines and materials to help teach less fortunate women how to sew.

STITCHING LIVES BACK TOGETHER

The Kuya Center, established and supported by the Lasallian Brothers, is intended to pull out less fortunate children from the streets and put them inside the classroom.

The Center helped in selecting the woman participants who come from the poorest of the poor. They are the mothers and sisters of the children the Center is currently supporting, explains Kuya Center street educator Jorge Villegas.

The group then brought in six sewing machines and sewing materials donated by Spotlight Australia. They also brought expert seamstresses who trained the women in basic sewing and skills like operating the machine, making bags, pillow cases, wallets, etc.

“We thought that this is a great opportunity to teach women sewing skills in these communities so they could set up businesses and support their families,” shares Kuya Collaborative Manila communications coordinator Amanda Pennini, a Communications and Public Relations student.

“We didn’t want to come in and say, do this, do this and it will make everything better. We asked them, what would be beneficial for them? What are their goals? What is their mission and vision of the future and how can we fit in that and make it better,” explains 21-year-old project leader Liberty Moore, a Bachelor of Communications and Public Relations student.

The student volunteers also mentored the women in basic business skills and in making the project sustainable. They also developed the content of Kuya Center’s website to attract more sponsors and donors for the organization, planning to expand the sewing project and doing more projects such as English literacy programs, soap and candle making workshops, among others.

“We’re planning it now and we’ll soon implement it. We’re looking for donors of iPads to send over here. You get a lot of apps there in teaching English. We haven’t got the exact date but we’ll be back next January,” Moore shares.

SHOCK AND AWE

Kuya Center’s street educator, Jorge and a social worker took the three student volunteers and the seamstresses to an exposure trip of Manila. They saw how the poor live in cardboard boxes, under the bridge with no bathroom or clean water.

“They have none of the comforts we are used to. It was very eyeopening and rewarding. It’s sort of a combination of shock and awe. Shock because these people have to live like that but you’re in awe that they survived like this. They’re still here and fighting through it,” Moore shares.

It is hard for them to compare what they have back in Australia and what they have witnessed here in the Philippines. Being sheltered in Australia for so many years and being exposed to such poverty is truly an eye-opening experience.

“We’re very lucky, we’re very comfortable. Even the people who are in the low socio economic status still have the ability and more opportunity to get out of it. I would say it’s heartening because to know where these women are coming from every day and knowing that this is how they live under very desperate circumstances.

Yet they are still here with smiles on their faces, sewing all day long and make these beautiful things. The people of this country are so strong and we are in admiration,” Pennini shares.

The students just can’t wait to share their experience with other students back in Australia in the hopes that they could recruit more students to come to the Philippines and do more projects.

“We advocate for it. After we do this project we go back to the university and say look at this project, look at what we have achieved. Would you like to experience and learn real life skills? Having that opportunity as well as having the opportunity to be involved in this rewarding project that’s what we’re hoping for to recruit more people,” Pennini says.

CHANGE IS AROUND THE CORNER

For 34-year-old mother of three, Marivic Amago, the skills she obtained from the project could potentially change her life and that of her family. Amago is a street vendor and her husband is a tricycle driver. She is able to put her children to school through the monthly R800 allowance her two kids receive from Kuya Center. The Center currently has 27 student beneficiaries.

“Malaking bagay talaga ‘to kasi ‘pag dating ng araw na marunong na kami manahi, puwede na kami magkaroon ng hanapbuhay, kahit simpleng hanapbuhay katulad ng paggawa ng basahan, mga damit ng bata. Puwede rin kami mamasukan sa pabrika kasi may natutunan kami (This is a big help because if the time comes that we already know how to sew, we can have a livelihood like sewing cleaning rags, children’s clothes. We can also apply for work in a factory because we already have the skills),” she says.

On the other hand for 19-year-old Judith Alla, the skills she learned are exactly what she needs to help her family. Her mother, a street sweeper, and her father, a construction worker, cannot support her schooling. Alla was in first year in college, taking up Midwifery, when she stopped.

“Sana maiahon ko sila sa hirap para ako na ang magpaaral sa kapatid ko. Gusto ko ring mag-aral ulit pero mahirap talaga kaya trabaho muna, ‘pag natapos yung kapatid ko, puwede naman ako mag-aral.

Maraming salamat sa kanila kasi kung hindi dahil sa kanila, hindi ako matututo manahi (I hope I can alleviate my family’s poverty and support my brother’s schooling. I really want for my brother to finish his schooling.

I also want to go back to school but I really have to work first, maybe when my brother graduates, I can go back to school. I want to thank them (USC-SIFE team) if it’s not for them, I won’t be able to learn how to sew),” Alla says.

For most of the student volunteers, the best part of coming here is seeing Filipinos survive amid the poverty. Because of what they have witnessed, the group has been challenged to do more.

They’ll be back, that much they have promised.