Malou T.

Her mother didn’t know what she was doing

Malou lived in poverty. Her mother had no regular work and attempted to sell fruit — mangos which were prevalent everywhere. Because of the lack of income, Malou’s mother could not afford to send her to school and so instead Malou at the age of 16 began to work as a waitress in Quezon City. Little did she know that the restaurant became a bar at night. She was soon requested to fill in for bar girls who were absent and this continued until she became a regular bar girl as she was tempted with the increase in “wages”. Working in the bar meant that Malou was forced to drink liquor and she was soon expected to serve men in an undignified manner. Her mother didn’t know what her daughter was doing as Malou exclaimed that she was working overtime.

How she got started in this livelihood project:

After 5 months, Malou grew sick of undignified work and a good friend introduced her to Samaritana Transformational Ministries Inc. She became a regular trainee at the centre and later became one of the leaders. She was able to participate in the jewelry livelihood project in partnership with Work of Your Hand International Development. There Malou was able to learn a new skill and help support herself through making beautiful jewelry.