Asian Alliance for Solidarity Economy

Mary Rose Rontal is working as an Assisting Professional in a USAID-funded project that focus on implementing strategic actions for environmental management while observing the principles of transparency, accountability and participatory decision-making in the local government units…

Feeding the piggy bank is what I and my husband taught Amyrrh, our one-year old son. We save every ten-peso coin we collect during the day from buying something or paying a fare.  We save it in my baby’s piggy bank ever since he was still in my tummy. Now, he’s already enjoying the feeding time of his “piggy”.

However, I can personally say that my or my family’s saving habit is poor because we only save every time we got a ten-peso coin, otherwise, no savings happened.

As an economist, I know that savings should come first before spending your money. Yet, I am not practicing it. The idea to save comes across my mind every time I can think of something I want to have in the future like house and lot, car, clothes and Amyr’s education. Bad thing is, the moment I received my salary, no thought of saving. All I can think of are the payments for my debts, my baby’s milk, the showing on the cinema, the food I craved to eat prior to my payday, groceries for the week, transportation expenses, board and lodging expenses, latest gadgets, everything except the thing called Savings.

I tend to ask how, when and where to save my money. How to start? When to start? And where is the most secured place to save? I already heard several financial institutions that did not succeed, got the money of their investors and become thief of the night, or they just simply bankrupted because of bad management. The uncertainty of financial institutions makes me anxious to save and invest in any particular financial institution.

It was then during the BSV workshop that I appreciated more the importance of Saving. I was enlightened with the idea of saving not just for myself but for the economy, more importantly for the small and medium enterprises, which I know is the “backbone” of the Philippine economy.

As an individual, I am not quite aware of the specific things I can do to help achieve a better state of nation, but thanks to my dear friend Jerick who invited me to join the BSV Workshop. It is very interesting to know that I am sharing the same vision with my groupmates and with other groups. As a Christian, as an economist and as an environmentalist, I was delighted to know that all of us hope for a “God-fearing” nation, a stable economy and a sustainable environment. These three aspects are underscored and for me, these characterized a perfect country. Though we are different individuals, yet we found out that we have common hopes for our country and that we are not just driven by our selfish desires but of what is good for the Filipinos a whole. That was indeed a “shared vision”.

I was also awakened on the topic “Learning Organization”, which made me realize my learning disabilities that I am not quite aware of for a long time. No wonder we hardly reach our goals in life. Now, I’m excited to share it with my colleagues.

As a whole, the one-day workshop on “Building Shared Vision” was indeed very informative. In fact, I would like to know more about the technical side of the cooperative, its management and operation, how to become a member, what are the logistical requirements to become an official member of the cooperative and the sustainable mechanisms of the organization. I think this should be discussed more during the Pre-Membership Education Seminar (PMES) which I believe is one of the requirements prior to being a member of any cooperative.

Further, I am glad that this concept was introduced to Filipinos. Though savings, credit and investments are not new to me but combining the three, with emphasis to “savings” in order to achieve a “Solidarity Economy” is relatively a new and fascinating concept. It is a good news that I find it very interesting to share with my networks of family, friends and colleagues. Indeed, I myself even want to conduct the same workshop to groups of people I know. Aside from that, I also want to see myself as part of the “think tank” of the CSRSMEAsia and be able to contribute in the development of concepts and designs that are worth implementing for the development of our community.

by Karen “Kaye” N. Quiñones, member of Vision Q and BSV Davao Team.

The Building Shared Vision Davao Workshop was an exceptional experience for me. I would like to start by sharing that for years I have been nursing a burning desire to do something for my beloved country, the Philippines. The problem was I could not reconcile the “how to start”, “what to start” and “where to start”. But the passion is there. How to use that passion is what I know not.

The BSV Davao Workshop last May 23-24, 2009 was not my first time since our uncle, Mr. Ben Quiñones, already conducted a mini-BSV workshop among his nephews and nieces a month before. Basically, I already had the idea of what a vision is, what comprises a learning organization and what the learning disabilities are. I was also familiar with the functions of the facilitator, documentor, story-teller and inquirer. And I thought I knew it all already.

But the whole BSV Davao Workshop experience taught me the practical executions of the theories and concepts that I previously learned from our uncle.

First, I saw vivid manifestations of what a learning organization is through the staff of CSRSME Asia. In many ways, they showed that whatever projects they took, they were a team and were open to learn as a team. I am personally impressed at how they imposed discipline in starting on time. Any Filipino knows for a fact that very few programs start as scheduled. But the CSRSME staff drew the line. On the first day, with only few early birds, the CSRSME staff started the program at the exact time as it was written in the program. They did the same thing on the second day– with empty stomachs. Lunch was served late. But they began the workshop without eating lunch just to stick to the schedule! Now, that is dedication.

Second, I also am delighted and somewhat surprised with how my cousins, who are members of the VisionQ team were eagerly participating in every segment of the program. As a team, we learned to offer help in our little way–from the registration of the participants, to the ushering and even in documenting each activity. I am so proud with their efforts to serve the participants. Yes, we are becoming a learning organization as well.

Third, I was encouraged by the positive response of the participants. Most, if not all, were actively involved in crafting new ideas on how we could mobilize a savings program in Davao. In fact, it was beyond my expectation that the Davao group would immediately agree to start a cooperative. To witness such an enthusiastic reponse from a group composed of a mixture of students, young professionals, and businessmen sharing the same vision is such an empowering sight to see! A miracle even.

To sum it all up, here are the lessons I learned from the recently concluded BSV Davao Workshop. I learned:

1. That in my desire to see a better Philippines, I belong to a team. Thus, I am not alone.

2. That with a passionate and God-fearing team, there is still hope for my country.

3. That in using the Fundamentals of Financial Stewardship, saving with a team is better than saving alone.

4. That age groups are not hindrances but are complements in working and learning together as a team.

5. (And realized) that the bayanihan culture of the Filipinos has not died.

6. That people are willing to work together if they clearly catch the vision.

7. That human efforts alone could not get us where we wanted to go. Therefore we needed a greater Power and Authority to enable us to carry out the vision that has been burning in our hearts.

I consider it such a great privilege to be part of the first BSV Davao Workshop. I believe in my heart that what we had started in Davao changed the course of history the moment we pledged our commitment to serve our country by promoting solidarity economy.

To the CSRSME staff, thank you for your selfless service to the Davaoeñoes.

To the Vision Q, Qudos (Kudos) to your Quality service!

To the BSV Davao Participants, let’s work together. Mabuhay kayong lahat!

To my country Philippines, “di ka na maaapi, ngayon at kailanman, pag-ibig ko’y sa’yo, Inang Bayan.”

To God be all the glory!:D

Hi. This is Junalyn Nablo, 19 years old. Presently studying at the University of Southeastern Philippines, Mintal Campus, Davao City. An incoming fourth year student this school year and taking up Bachelor of Science in Community Development. I am presently working as intern at World Vision Development Foundation, Davao branch under Child Labor Program.

As a student, it’s my pleasure to join Building Shared Vision Workshop towards Solidarity Economy because I know that this will help me more to develop my skills. It also made me realize that in an organization there must always be communication that helps to strengthen the organization. It’s hard to attain your objectives especially when you have the “learning Disability”. In other words you must be flexible in any way and in many ways.

First day of workshop was really fun.. I met new friends. I Love it!!

by Ben Quiñones

Below is my report to the International Forum – Globalization of Solidarity Economy (Lux09) <www.lux09.lu> (April 22-25, Luxembourg) on the initiatives related to the promotion of solidarity economy in Asia. I wish to thank the various members of the Social Enterprise Task Force (SETF) who contributed inputs to this report, notably George Chen (China), Usha Sridharan (India), Omseng Bora (Cambodia), Ho Thi Quy (Vietnam), Agung Alit (Indonesia), Sunil Chitrakar (Nelpal), Rene Guarin (Philippines), Willy Maldia (Philippines), Robert Abao (Philippines), and Mody Karunaratne (Sri Lanka).

It is my hope that by informing our various partners in other continents about our initiatives in Asia, the international collaboration towards expanding outreach to social enterprises in Asia and other continents will be further advanced. Let us continue our Building Shared Vision (BSV) Learning Journey, share our experiences and relevant information, and advance our own dialogue on social enterprises/ solidarity economy in Asia.

A socially responsible enterprise is often referred to as a ‘social enterprise”. It is a mission oriented enterprise with a triple bottom line, or the 3p’s – people, planet, and profit.

CSRSME Asia promotes the development of social enterprises (SE) in Asia through information exchange and resource sharing. This is carried out through the ‘Building Shared Vision’ (BSV) Learning which enables the SE to transform itself into a more dynamic and flexible learning organization.

BSV Workshops

In 2009, CSRSME Asia conducted one regional BSV workshop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia following the one conducted in Bangkok, Thailand in October 2008. BSV Bangkok gave birth to the conceptual framework of the Asian Alliance for Solidarity Economy (AASE) as a hub of solidarity economy in Asia. BSV Kuala Lumpur created the Social Enterprise Task Force (SETF) as a means for jump starting AASE. CSRSME Asia serves as the secretariat of SETF.

Several international organizations collaborated with CSRSME Asia in conducting the BSV Learning Journey. These included the RIPESS (International Association for the Promotion of Social and Solidarity Economy), SIDI (Society for Investment in Development Institutions), ALOE (Alliance for Responsible, Plural and Solidarity Economy), CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency), FPH (Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation), ADFIAP (Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific), and Oikocredit Southeast Asia.

The Social Enterprise Task Force (SETF)

As noted earlier, BSV Kuala Lumpur led to the creation of the Social Enterprise Task Force (SETF). To date, there are about 40 members of SETF from more than 30 organizations in15 countries (12 from Asian continent + 3 from other continents). Sunil Chitrakar and Ben Quinones, representatives of Asia to the RIPESS Board, are members of SETF. WFTO-Asia President Chandra Kacchipati has showed interest in beefing up SETF with participation of WFTO-Asia member companies in several Asian countries. continue reading…