Opportunities are hard to come by, and often, you have to work your way up or create that opportunity for yourself.
Likewise, Susana, a member of Project Dungganon, also had to take grueling steps to rise above poverty and live a more comfortable life.
“If there are opportunities available, grab them and work on them. Don’t let any opportunity slip away,” shared Susana when asked how one can succeed in changing their life for the better.
Like many of us, Susana led a difficult life. She wanted to finish college but unfortunately could only complete second year of high school because of financial issues. But even when no opportunities were available for her, she didn’t leave it at that.
Susana thought of several businesses she could do to earn money from. She wasted no time and started doing so immediately because by then, she was about to build a family of her own at 17 years old.
She was a natural saleswoman, so selling various products from banig (native mat) to vegetables, dried fish, brooms, to ginamos (shrimp paste), and many other things were a welcome challenge to her.
She goes to towns and cities with her husband selling these products or trading them for rice.
The native mat they sell is personally made by both Susana and her husband. They would sleep late just to finish weaving it and wake up at 3 am to prepare the things they needed so they can go to another city to find a new market for their products. 
If she were to do nothing and wait for the customers to come to her, she knew she’d be left with no sales, which would mean no food to bring to their table.
This was the life Susana lived until she found something that finally turned her life around. Around this time, she learned how to make native bags, and when she completed her first 100 bags, she traveled to Cebu and sold them there… it became a hit!
She focused on this newfound skill and secured many customers, and around the same time, she joined Project Dungganon, which helped scale up her business. This was 26 years ago.
Fast forward to today, Susana buys the work of her neighbors, who have also learned native bag making and sells them to a network of customers she has built through the years.
Susana’s story would teach us that as we aim for better things in life or pursue success for ourselves and our families, we must consistently work towards it.
Opportunities don’t stay in one place. And as Susana did, we must continue to knock on other people’s doors, to look for options available here and there, or better yet, create those opportunities for ourselves.
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