Photo by JANUS VICTORIA

by Aina Lim*

In Filipino, we call her ‘nanay’.  Millions of women in the Philippines, in the countryside and in the cities keep to their homes where they know exactly what they ought to be: mothers, the light of the family.

Till recently, few would expect these women to earn, much less be the instruments out of their family’s poverty.  But 22 years ago, with a dream to help the poorest in our country, Dr. Aris Alip put his faith in these women and founded CARD: Center for Agriculture and Rural Development.

From years of work in Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), Dr. Alip and his colleagues had identified the country’s poorest as those without assets and access to banks and basic services.  They also believed that until these people obtained capital to acquire something of their own, they were powerless to improve their lives and rise out of poverty.

Thus, CARD was born on the principle of lending money -what we now call microcredit - to the poor.  What started as a small operation is now the country’s largest microfinance institution: CARD MRI (Mutually Reinforcing Institutions), recipient of the 2008 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service.   And as was Dr. Alip’s vision, CARD Bank is now substantially owned and managed by the poor.

CARD’s beneficiaries are women from both cities and the countryside.  They are organized into groups called Centers, where they gather and are educated on values, business, and current affairs.

Before getting loans, the women must know what business they will engage in.  Nanays might turn to handicrafts, raising livestock, growing vegetables, or running a sari-sari store. The first loan may amount to P2-3 thousand, to be paid over six months to a year.  When this loan has been paid, a nanay can graduate to a bigger loan.  As her business grows, CARD increases the amount available to her.

Payment collection is strict business, done weekly by CARD’s loan officers during meetings.  On the flipside, Dr. Alip says, “We can be very mean about microfinance, but when help is needed, we are very human.”  When there’s a natural calamity or death in the family, there’s immediate moratorium on payments. Relief, shelter, and hospitalization are provided for by the CARD Mutual Benefit Association.  In the case of business failure, help is extended through additional loans and business mentoring.

“When a business fails, CARD is sad because we haven’t done our part. Our business is not to provide loans, but ultimately to alleviate poverty,” says Dr. Alip.

Indeed, CARD’s business goes beyond lending.  “There is life after microfinance,” says Dr. Alip. CARD would like the nanays to move past the level of microentrepreneur, into that of SMEs, if possible. To provide channels for members to scale up, CARD Business Development Services has partnered with business solutions provider, Microventures, Inc. (MVI), to expand the nanays’ network and distribution channels.

Borrowing the concept of a ‘7-11 in the countryside’, CARD and MVI have created a sari-sari store chain through the HAPINOY Store brand.   The dream is to have a hundred thousand HAPINOY sari-sari stores owned and run by nanays throughout the country.

Not all nanays will expand their businesses, though.  Many use their profits to send their children to school.  Here is where Dr. Alip sees the power of education and how the second generation of CARD beneficiaries can bring their families out of poverty.

“We now have several thousand nurses, teachers, accountants, engineers, bankers, agriculturists…  Soon we’ll have lawyers. We have children who’ve graduated from the military. Hopefully, we’ll have generals soon,” says Dr. Alip.  The children finish school, tell their mothers to stop working, and take over the family responsibility.

Roughly, it takes three to five years to bring a family out of poverty, five to eight years to stabilize, and another five years to bring them to the next level so they don’t slide back into poverty.  But looking at CARD’s nanays, they are happy and hopeful.  It is amazing to see these women so empowered.

By 2010, CARD hopes to serve a million nanays and their families.  In terms of making a difference, that is no small number.

(For more information on CARD MRI, you may visit www.cardbankph.com.)

*Aina is a student of Ateneo School of Government Social Entrepreneurship Training Program at the Ateneo Professional Schools.