The 2009 SEED FINANCE Stakeholders Conference

“MICRONOMORE, NO BORDERS!”
Mark your calendar on Nov. 26-27, 2009 in Luzon!

Choose from several concurrent workshop sessions and plenary briefings
Have a meeting of minds with partners in the SEEDFINANCE Network and other strategic partners
Network with fellow development workers and providers of support and services
Enter your award-winning video for this year’s video-shoot event
Attend the fellowship night and [...]

UP, UP, AND AWAY, SUPER-SUMAN!!!

UP, UP, AND AWAY, SUPER-SUMAN - Aling Dionesia Dela Pena, Oroquieta CityOne hardly will notice Aling Dionesia in that gathering of small and medium-scale entrepreneurs, government officials, cooperative officers, and other attendees to the Paglaum MPC – SEEDFINANCE SME MicroPlus product launch that sunny afternoon of June 19, 2009. Unassuming and soft-spoken as this lady is, who would believe she is the owner of a thriving enterprise that wows not only natives of Oroquieta in Misamis Occidental but also balikbayans and tourists from the U.S., Japan, Hongkong, and other countries. Only when she began asking questions about the SME facility being introduced by Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative (where she is a member) and SEEDFINANCE will you be able to discern the business instincts underneath that homely, motherly figure.

Mrs. Dionesia Dela Pena of Oroquieta City combines the roles of mother and businesswoman with pizzazz. Needing to supplement the family coffers, she started out years ago on a home-based suman-making micro-enterprise, balancing her time in carrying out her household duties of cooking and washing and what-have-yous and managing the business. Typical of tourist destinations, Oroquieta has its share of local delicacies and pasalubongs, but Aling Dionesia’s suman has that distinct taste and quality that locals and tourists alike swear to. As locals are fond to exaggerate, Aling Dionesia’s suman is ‘something to die for’. More…

Empowerment comes in all shapes and sizes

(ROWENA PARAGADOS – Don’t underestimate this lady)

Empowerment comes in all shapes and sizes - Rowena ParagadosThe forum held by Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative (LMPC) and SEEDFINANCE Corporation especially for MSME clients that June 2009 morning was well-attended. The atmosphere was formal, and to add to the formality, a very unassuming lady with a somehow imposing size, sits at a corner waiting for her turn to share her experiences and sign the agreements for the SME loan facility being offered at that time.

Looking more than a dozen years back, it was 1996 when this lady, Rowena Paragados became a member of LMPC. With her first availment of a PhP5,000.00 microfinance loan, she used this to pump-up her food peddling micro-venture then. The venture was the kind where she’s almost always ambulant, peddling her food ware where the market would be. The combination of perseverance and the little financial help worked wonders for the enterprise, and soon enough, Rowena was a small restaurant owner. More