On graduating from university, I was hired by a magazine syndicate in New York. On my first day at work, I learned I'd been assigned to Vogue Magazine. I was 21 years old. I wanted to make a contribution to the world, and I didn't feel I could do it working at a fashion magazine. I was so embarrassed that I spent the next two years telling strangers I worked at a travel agency!
Two years later, I left the country for new horizens in Europe. I became a magazine journalist, then moved into technical communication. Now here I am, a knowledge architect at SAP. And SAP is giving me the chance of a lifetime to contribute.
In just a few days, I'll be leaving for the Philippines to participate in an SAP Social Sabbatical. I'll be working with a social enterprise in Manila called Rags2Riches, committed to improving the quality of life of artisans from poor areas in the country.
Here’s how they tell their story on their vibrant website:
We began our mission in 2007 in Payatas, one of the Philippines’ largest urban poor communities, home to half a million people. An informal cottage industry of rug-weavers grew from the many women who found their means of earning by scavenging through dumpsites for scrap pieces of fabric. They would then turn these into handcrafted rugs and rags that they would sell, all while fulfilling their familial duties.
Over time, middlemen saw the lucrativeness of the industry and exploited it, controlling both the supply of fabric and the women’s formal access to the market. This resulted in an unfair value chain for the women who earned only PhP 12-16 per finished product, or about .30 cents USD per day.
We started Rags2Riches to provide these artisans with access to the market and the formal economy, as well as with additional skills-based, financial and health training in order for them to utilize their maximum financial and personal potential.
R2R integrated a design solution by partnering with influential designers … and turning scrap materials into fashion handbags, now expanding to home accessories. In six years, R2R has trained over 900 artisans across communities in Metro Manila and continues to expand its social impact and eco-ethical footprint in the country.
Rags2Riches relies on four fundamental success factors, including collaborative and conscious design, conscientious commerce, empowering and inclusive progress (“If it’s not inclusive, it’s not progress”). The fourth success factor is a Filipino expression that positively sings to me: pagbabahagi ng sarili, meaning to share one's self:
We are in the business of sharing positive influence. In sharing the best of ourselves to our community, our country, and the world, we become part of each other’s stories of progress.
I’m on board. I can’t wait to get there and meet the Rags2Riches team in person. I can’t wait to see how I can share what’s best in me.
