Josephine T.

Now has hope to realizer her dreams.

“I grew up in Quezon City. As the eldest of four siblings I was expected to help provide for the rest of my family. I lived with them until about a year ago, when I moved out to live with my boyfriend.

My manager, where I worked as a pick-up girl, introduced me to Samaritana in 2001. I went to Samaritana in the day and worked as a pick-up girl one night a week in order to make more money. After six months I realized that life is better at Samaritana, and I completely quit my other job. However, my manager’s desire for immediate income prohibited her from seeing the benefits of dignified work, and she refused to stop working as a pick-up girl. It takes a lot of perseverance and courage to change.”

How she has changed:

Josephine found Samaritana intimidating at first, and was nervous about counselling sessions with the staff. However as she spent more time there, she saw many blessings and was thankful. The training, seminars and work on livelihood projects kept her busy and helped her to forget her previous life. ”I take the Samaritana training seriously so that I can realize my dreams. So far, I have been able to use all the training I’ve received. I hope to go back to school to become a fashion and jewellery designer. I realize that I have something in me that others can’t do – I have a unique gift.”

Work of Your Hand is happy to be able to purchase some of the jewellery that was made by Josephine through Samaritana.