Inspiring Stories: Meet Beng

Beng was part of the first group of mothers we trained from our chosen urban poor community. She became interested in making handmade accessories when another one of our beaders, Tess Dulce, started making accessories in her home. Whenever, she and the other mothers would call Tess for afternoon socializing, Tess would turn down the invitation because she was working on Palamuti Accessories. Beng, and other mothers became curious and asked Tess if they too can make handmade accessories during their spare time.

Thus, our relationship with Beng and the others based in Tess’ community began. We conducted a one-day training for this group of mothers and eventually assigned simple projects which they can make at home. We provided the materials for them to use in their projects and when the products are done, we pick and pay them upfront. Beng, as with most of the other mothers, is a full time housewife. She stays home to take care of her son, while her husband works 8-10 hours a day on a full time job. Palamuti became an opportunity to use up her idle time while providing additional income to her family. Her love for crafting made her a good candidate as a Palamutibeader. 

We took notice of Beng’s natural talent for crafting, and eventually started assigning her with more complicated assignments. She was best at making our Hiraya Scarf Necklaces, expertly producing them at great speed. She was especially helpful during the late Christmas rush of 2012, wherein we had a high demand for our handmade scarf necklaces. During that time, we only had a few beaders who were skilled enough to be able to make the embellished scarves. Beng was one of those beaders that you could count on.

With her earnings, she was able to put up her own "mini-grocery" in her community, which she manages along with her husband. We are very proud of Beng. She truly lives up to the “Hiraya” namesake, which means “hopes and dreams”. For us at Palamuti, we are glad to share these dreams and small successes with our beaders. It’s also a dream come true for us that our mission of spreading hope, beauty and empowerment, was able to make a difference with Beng.