PLDT-SMART GK Village residents find opportunity in dressmaking

Ofelia Paner always dreamed of being a dressmaker. She remembered how, as a child, she helped her mother sew dresses by hand and sometimes, using a sewing machine.

She saw that dream fade away when economic difficulties limited her schooling to Grade 5 and an early marriage bore 11 children that had her living on a day-to-day basis at the dumpsite in Calahonan, Mandurriao, Iloilo.

Now, thanks to Gawad Kalinga and Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART), Ofelia is on the way to fulfilling her dream.

The Paners are one of the 16 families that make up the first batch of beneficiaries of the PLDT-Smart Amazing GK Village in Barangay Sooc, Arevalo, Iloilo. Under the livelihood component of the program, Ofelia and 18 other beneficiaries were taught the basics of dressmaking.

When their work is declared satisfactory, they will start earning under a program set up by the Iloilo City Government through the Iloilo City Gawad Kalinga Coordinating and Development Council in partnership with SMART and the Western Visayas College of Science and Technology (WVCST).

Nemia H. Mambaquiao, a member of the council and WVCST executive director of extension services, said that they are about to sign an agreement with the Educational Research and Development Assistance (ERDA) Foundation to serve the school uniform requirements of ERDA scholars in Panay Island.

"In WVCST alone, we are talking about 402 ERDA scholars," she said. She added that there are about 3,000 ERDA scholars enrolled in schools and universities in Panay Island like the WVCST, University of Iloilo, University of San Agustin, De Paul College, St. Paul University, Regina Coeli, Western Institute of Technology and St. Dominic Girls' Home.

Adelfa Fontonalgo, who heads WVCST's Garments Technology Department, expressed admiration for the women from the PLDT-Smart Amazing GK Village who underwent training.

"They were easy to teach. You could really see their interest because they spent for transportation to come for training everyday for 10 days, brought their own lunch and didn't loiter over lunch break," she said.

Fontonalgo recommends two more practice rounds before the women can take in work. During the two-week training, the women were asked to produce two sets of uniforms - one male and one female - of a school of their choice. This way, they could take home the finished product for their children to use.

She is exploring the possibility of line sewing, to enable those who might not be up to the task of producing an entire uniform, to start earning as early as possible.

"If you're good at button-holing, or making sleeves, you will earn by piece," she explained.

Mambaquiao is also looking for ways to minimize transportation cost for the women. It takes about three rides from Barangay Sooc to WVCST, she said. At P7 per ride, a round-trip costs P42 per day, she added.

She arranged for transportation from the PLDT-SMART Amazing GK Village to the school and back at a discounted price. Now, she's looking for ways to get one or two sewing machines donated to the GK village so that the women would no longer have to report to the WVCST.

To women like Ofelia, coughing up transportation money daily is worth it if it means additional income.

Herminia Pineda, president of the village association Kapitbahayan, said she enjoyed the training. When she was single, she used to freelance at dressmaking, she said. All that stopped when she got married and had six children. Scavenging provided daily even if meager income, she explained.

Now, she is thrilled that she's learned a skill that will allow her to augment her husband's income as a vendor.

"Enjoy na ako, dugang income pa sa pamilya," (I'm not only enjoying this kind of work, I'm earning, as well) she said.