FOR the Overseas Filipinos’ Society for the Promotion of Economic Security, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)—aside from their remittances that fuel the country’s economic growth—can also be harnessed as agents of change in the society.
Cristina Liamzon, program coordinator of the group’s Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship Program for Overseas Filipinos and their Families (LSE), said this is why the migrant workers and their families should get more meaningful interventions to refocus their potentials.
Liamzon, one of the current Ashoka Fellows, is building a global community of empowered Filipino migrant workers through the LSE Program, a six-month training on financial literacy, leadership and social entrepreneurship; supplemented with psychosocial counseling to achieve a more holistic transformation of OFWs.
Now available in 11 cities worldwide, the program is expecting its 1,000th graduate this year.
She added this is but a very small percentage of the 10 million Filipino migrant workers. Nevertheless, she said the program is a wake-up call for its graduates, who committed to be trained on how to handle their hard-earned money and eventually be social entrepreneurs, themselves, who think of solutions for social problems in their host country and in the Philippines.
“If you have partnerships, and these are mutually supportive and there’s a lot of trust, so much can be done,” she said. “We teach them the concept of entrepreneurship based on the Ashoka principle of how to make a difference in the community. Moreover, we also train them to be social entrepreneurs who will make the lives of people better in the community.”
At the end of the session, the participants are required to present a project proposal on social entrepreneurship. “We let them decide what business venture they want to put up,” said Liamzon, one of the Ashoka Fellows for 2015.
The LSE Program is focused on domestic help and caregivers. Liamzon expressed satisfaction because this group was enthusiastic when they learned the details of the program. “I believe they need it most,” Liamzon said.
In turning OFWs into social entrepreneurs, Liamzon said the trainers teach participants sustainable business practices. For instance, Liamzon said the LSE teaches them to take a closer look at the value chain of the business.
“If they are engaged in catering or cooking, they should buy their food supplies directly from the farmer to give them economic empowerment. For their packaging requirements, they should use biodegradable materials not plastic. Equally important is they should give just wages to the workers,” Liamzon pointed out.
“Although these are very sound practices, many companies fail to do these basic things,” she added.
Liamzon admitted the real challenge in training the OFWs is that many of them tend to look at the problems in the usual way. To correct their perspective, LSE urges them to view things on a different perspective and think “out of the box.”
She said the LSE is happy when its graduates start to initiate programs based on what they have learned from the training.
For instance, she revealed graduates of LSE in Hong Kong helped organize the same program in their hometown in Iloilo to replicate it locally. “They even convinced the mayor to partner with them for their enterprise. The workers also managed to get other partners from the neighboring local government units,” she said.
“The graduation of the trainees was very memorable for them because they have been given a new perspective in life,” she added.
Liamzon also encourages OFWs to maximize the opportunity to learn the history and culture of their host country because this broadens their mind and knowledge. For example, she said Filipinos in Italy can get big exposure on art, culture and history by visiting the historical sites in Rome and other Italian cities.
One of the challenges of LSE is its continuous growth. As the participants get bigger, Liamzon said the LSE has to look for more volunteers to train the OFWs. The volunteers are sourced from the Ateneo alumni association, graduates of schools such as De La Salle University and the University of the Philippines, as well as various industries.
Nevertheless, the LSE is happy because it continues to grow. It is present in four Philippine cities, namely, Manila, Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Iloilo. In Italy it has presence in Rome, Florence, Turin and Naples.
It is also present in Dubai, Macau, Hong Kong, Brussels, The Hague and Frankfurt.
The other newly elected Ashoka Fellows are Ines Fernandez (founder of Arugaan), John Paul Maunes (cofounder of Gualandi Volunteer Service Programme), and Kevin Lee (cofounder of A Single Drop for Safe Water).