[The TTBP women develop goals and a mission statement for their new livelihood association] My first major project is now well underway – yes, we do actual work here! After our project design workshop in Manila in February, my supervisor asked me to head up the organizing of a new group for weavers of pandan bariw (grass mats), in four barangays in our community. So I worked with the village captains to hold an interest meeting at the end of March, and with over 100 folks attending (and all of them women), the group has grown into much more than we had originally envisioned – and really, this is better: the community validated the concept and made it their own, and now they are running with it.
[making a calendar for the coming months] At our launch meeting in March the participants decided they wanted to create a community association for all women entrepreneurs, not just weavers – and so the TTBP Women’s Livelihood Association was born. (TTBP stands for Tagporo, Taytay, Barbo, and Pagnamitan – the names of the four villages). At that first meeting, where my supervisor and I facilitated, the women elected officers, decided on the group’s name and came up with a mission statement and goals.
[my supervisor facilitating a session] The aim of the group is to build the entrepreneurial capacity of these women, who work as weavers, shell crafters, small store owners, and small farmers of livestock. The initial goal is to enhance their current businesses, and perhaps later work with them on exploring new business opportunities.
[electing officers] As with any new group formed in the Philippines, the TTBP women held a big party known as the "officer induction" to celebrate. They do, in fact, induct their officers at these events and there is a formal program, but afterward it becomes just like any other Filipino party - eating, dancing, drinking, dancing, dancing.
[Taking the officers' oath - I took my first oath in the Waray-Waray language, as the group's advisor. Although, I don't quite understand everything I pledged...] During the mayor's address she surprised us by announcing that she’s providing 100,000 pesos as a seed fund for the project (25,000 for each village) – this is about $2,500 US. It was great news, and the entire night was really remarkable - the group was all ladies, yet they kept up the all-night cha cha tradition!
[Our venue - yet another amazing Filipino skill: erecting a giant tent anywhere in no time!] 
[Brandon was in high demand as a dance partner] I’ve spent the last two months holding small group meetings in each village, getting to know the ladies and learn about their current businesses. These meetings were pretty stressful for me – because I worked without a formal counterpart from the municipal hall (Brandon and I facilitated them alone), and I conducted them entirely in Waray-Waray.
[meeting in Taytay village] 
[meeting in Pagnamitan village] After each 1-2 hour meeting I would fall into bed from the stress of processing a lively meeting in a foreign language, but it was worth it. The women are becoming less shy with me and we had some pretty good output at the meetings – we created a profile of their current businesses (what they do, where they sell, who are the buyers), and they’ve started to identify both the obstacles and opportunities for their work.
At each meeting, the women identified areas they want to be trained in, and the priority areas are new design techniques, dyeing, and business management. So now I’m working with local and regional agencies to schedule these. We have a business management workshop coming up this week and are hoping to hold a product enhancement workshop in July.
[It was at least 115 degrees in this small room (summer is here!) but they did a great job on the business profile.] At times, this project feels really daunting – I have no idea where it will lead, and I certainly don’t want to make false promises that we can dramatically improve the women’s incomes. But for now, I know I can help offer the trainings they are asking for, and that seems like a good place to start.
[The entire group, at our launch meeting]
