Christina Paolisbo's Story

"I am full of hope now. Little by little, I will finish the construction of my house, my children will grow stronger, and all of them will have an education. Their life will be better than mine has been."- Christina Paolisbo, the Philippines

Christina Paolisbo, 44 years old, participates in a Credit with Education program in the province of Nabunturan, a rural region of Mindanao, in the Philippines. She has eight children, the youngest of them 12 years old. Christina joined the program and began to see its benefits almost immediately. "I buy and sell whatever I can. Usually this is fruit, dried fish and batik cloth. This program helped me invest in my business so that I can buy larger quantities at a lower cost. This has improved my profits," said Christina.

So, she encouraged her oldest daughter, Joann Dumalo, 24 years old, to join the Credit with Education program. Both know their lives are better as a result of their participation in the program and have enormous hope for their children's futures. Christina said, "Before I joined this Credit with Education program, I could feed my children little more than corn. Our house had no walls…. Now I feed them more nutritious food, like rice, vegetables and meat. I learned about more nutritious food from our learning sessions.

"When I began the program, my house had only one wall, so I hung sheets of plastic to protect us from the rain and wind. The money I earned paid for the laborers to add another wall to the house. I hope to finish the other walls of my house very soon. I have also purchased seeds and now have a vegetable garden. I will feed my children these vegetables and sell some at market."

When we spoke with Joann, Christina's daughter, about how her life has changed after joining the Credit with Education program, she said, "Through the Credit with Education program, I was able to borrow money, even though I had never done that before. I opened a small Sari Sari store in the room I share with my husband and daughter. I have had no problem repaying my loan. I can buy food for my daughter now. And I am saving money in case she becomes sick and needs medicine."

Joann also values the health and business learning sessions that she participates in through the program. "The learning sessions are teaching me how to take better care of my daughter, Rachel. When she becomes sick with diarrhea, I know what to do to make her better quickly. I learned how to separate the cost of my materials from my profits so I know how much I earn. I also learned how to attend to customers when they come to my store so they will buy more. My first loan was for 1,500P ($40) and the second one is for 2,250P ($60)."

There are so many hard-working women, just like Christina and Joann, all over the world who are just waiting for their chance to make a better life for their families. You can help.

  • Won't you help today by making your donation to Freedom from Hunger?
  • With the help of people like you, Freedom from Hunger is now empowering more than 600,000 families to break the cycle of hunger through Credit with Education.

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