Executive Summary

  Imagine living in a hot sticky crowded place, making $5.93 per day, and trying to start a business. Then add on four kids to support on your own that are still in school and your house is a shack. That’s basically Rosemary’s life. 

  Education might not be the first thing you want to learn about in the Philippines on your radar but it will be after you read this report because of how much it affects the children. In the Philippines they have ten years of free education. This means Rosemary (our entrepreneur) didn’t have to pay for school and neither does her children who are in school right now. Even though it may have been free it doesn’t mean it was good education. Education in the Philippines is considered bad because of the crowded and poorly funded school conditions. Rosemary is a pig seller that is also another fact to show she isn’t educated, she is poor, and needs help. This is true because highly educated jobs make more money like an airplane pilot who makes $41.76 a day compared to Rosemary’s agriculture job (not needing to be educated) who makes $5.93 cents a day. If she was educated she wouldn’t have needed help and would be living in better conditions. While people that are plane pilots in the Philippines are making $15,036 per year Rosemary is stuck with $2,125 a year. 

But even the highest income making jobs are no match for jobs in the U.S. An average farmer (that’s what Rosemary is) in the United States makes around $45,000 per year. That’s $42,875 more than Rosemary!! Rosemary does make more money than some people, but she is DEFINETLY in the lower half of the income ladder. Also, Engineers and Teachers make more than her.  

 Now Imagine Sunshine beaches, shorts, and t-shirts year round sounds like great weather right? Think again just because the Philippines is sunny, it doesn’t mean the climate is perfect. The rainy season of the Philippines (FYI: three seasons a year) brings an average of over twenty typhoons a year. If you think that’s bad I’m just warming up imagine this: eighty degree Fahrenheit weather, a sunshine beach, topped off with a pina colada, then BOOM! A volcano erupts without warning, so much for that vacation. Study’s show that since 2007 volcanic activity has increased. Buluscan and Kanloan are two active volcanoes in the Philippines; Kanloan is located in Bindoy Negros Oriental Province.  This is where Rosemary (our entrepreneur) lives. The more eruptions that occur, the larger chance of having to start a business all over again. Moving on, the geography of the Philippines includes scenic mountain ranges, large costal areas, and flat plains. However, it can be a harsh area to raise livestock. Rosemary is a resident of Bindoy, Negros Oriental with four children to support. She is applying for a microfinance loan to buy pig feed and pigs to raise for a profit. Even though the geography is a huge part of the Philippines the history may be just as big as or even more important than geography. The fight for independence started in 1946 with what is known today as the Huk Rebellion led by communists. It then crossed over to the war against the Japanese on October 20, 1946. This caused a huge work stoppage and no one could work including Rosemary’s family. They could not sell pigs nor get money to feed the family. War against Japan ended with a victory with some help from America, (one of the Filipinos allies) on July 4, 1946 a day of relief and celebration. The ending of the war was extremely beneficial to the Filipinos’ success. 

Even after having a rebellion against the Japanese, the Philippines got back on their feet and used their natural resources to their benefit, so while we were researching for this report we found that the  Philippines is one of the world’s richest mineral resources. So don’t be surprised to find a miner in every other Philippine family. (Not that you would go around asking people) Now don’t think the miner’s are being paid a lot of money. You see the people that run the mines are the ones making the big bucks. So the people doing the hard dirty work are given only about three dollars and thirty cents a day! And you thought your allowance was small.

Did you know sixty-five percent of the Philippines are covered in mountains? So, the thirty-five percent that isn’t mountains is being shared by villages/city’s, fields for farming, and much more. Most of the excess land in the Philippines (besides villages/city) is being used for growing sugarcane and crops this is because the Philippines are the number one producer of sugarcane and coconuts.  So Rosemary our poor entrepreneur, single mother of four is struggling to get excess land for her pig farm. One it’s expensive and two most excess land is for growing crops. Imagine the quality of the land she has for her pigs. (Not that pigs are picky)  

Sadly the death rate will also play a big factor to Rosemary (our entrepreneur); the death rate is 5.06 out of 1,000 people. That is a very low death rate, lower than the growth rate so there’s another reason that she will need more pigs to sell. This will cost her more money, but it may help her business stay running for the large population.

  Our vision for Rosemary is for her to prosper in her pig business, and to earn enough money to support her family. We would also want her to provide for her community and provide a better education for her children.

   As you now see Rosemary is poor because she is not educated and didn’t get a good paying job. She needs money to support her and her children. You can lend money in portions as little as $25 and help Rosemary flourish in life. Plus you’ll get your money back. Please lend and help Rosemary today.

 There are chain reactions when it comes to income, such as: Rosemary’s income is low = not a good job or business = shack as a home and not a lot of food = health and family issues = needs help = on world vision website = you help by giving a loan! = you get your money back!!

Rosemary, the single mother of four, needs help to expand and support her pig farm, and to buy pig feed and piglets. So don’t just sit there feeling sorry for her get up and go on to the world vision website to donate today!