Snacks and A Full-Circle Moment

Our One Hope Microfinance Program’s main mission is to protect vulnerable women from the threat of sexual exploitation by providing loans for sustainable micro entrepreneurship. We provide small business loans starting at PHP 6,000. Each client will then be a part of a fellowship group where they must commit to meeting weekly for payment and community building. They can continue borrowing up to PHP 30,000. This way, they have the chance to elevate their living standards and foster positive change in their communities.

Rowena has been part of this program since 2020. Before joining, she was running a small snack stall selling beloved Filipino snacks like turon and kwek-kwek. With help from the program, she was able to expand her products to other snacks, like popular chips and drinks, among students in nearby schools.

She had established herself as a favorite among students in the area. They kept coming back because the way she made her snacks had somehow captured the tastes of her clientele. Over time, other vendors tried selling snacks in the same spot, but many eventually stopped as customers continued choosing to buy from her. 

Her inspiration to work hard? Her two kids. Right now, her teenage son is in 8th grade, while her daughter is in her first year of college at Subic Montessori School—one of the schools in the area where she had been selling for years! Before going to college, her daughter would come help her in the stall after class. Now that she is in college, she is focused on her studies—a true full-circle moment for her family. 

This is what happens when a mother’s dream becomes her main motivation to do the work that she does. By wisely using our microloans and showing up every day, Rowena has built a lasting business that continues to sustain her family and allow room for her children’s lives to grow—one snack at a time.

Our Partners