Wednesday, October 11, 2006 Family business helps Tisa folk earn income By Karen D. Nacario University of the Philippines Visayas Cebu College
A group of families in Sitio Tambisan, Barangay Tisa in Cebu City is able to make ends meet, and more, by supplying exporters and local stores jewelry made of shells.
“Pagkugi ra jud ang among capital aning negosyoha,” said Nelia Atim, 42, owner of a shellcraft business in Sitio Tambisan. (Hard work is our only capital for this business.)
Her family started a business making jewelry and fashion accessory components out of shells in 1986.
Nelia said the idea for the business came from her husband, Uldarico, who was a shellcraft worker during his student days.
In 20 years, the business grew as it got more orders from exporters and the Atim family started hiring their neighbors.
What began as a family livelihood has grown into what it is today — a business that provides income to several families in the neighborhood.
Quality
“Amo i-train ang mga silingan aron ma-guarantee namo ang quality,” Nelia said. (We train our neighbors before hiring to ensure the quality of our products.)
She said they allow their neighbors to work on the products in their respective homes.
“Dugay-dugay na jud mi ani. Nakapahuman na gani mi sa among siyam ka anak, nakapatukod ug balay ug nakapalit ug sakyanan,” she said. (We have been doing this for a long time already. We have sent our nine children to school, built a house and bought a car from our earnings.)
Nelia said they are confident about the quality of their products despite the competition.
She said the incidence of gambling in their community has also declined as many of their neighbors are made busy making the shellcraft products.
Clients
“Manghina-ut mi nga naa’y mga orders pirmi para makatabang ko sa akong mga silingan,” she said. (We hope we will continue to get orders so I can help my neighbors.)
Nelia said among their clients are Timeless Gift, Balena Export, Fantasy Fashion and Asian Handmade.
“Ang amo sa akong bana sauna mao’y una namong exporter,” she said. (My husband’s previous employer is our first exporter-client.)
But she admitted there are times they have fewer orders. Peak period is during summer in western countries.
Nelia said their shells come from Surigao and Bantayan Island but they buy the raw materials from a supplier in Pasil, Cebu City.
She assured that their raw materials are not prohibited by the Department of Natural Resources as they buy only the shells, called “bagal” and “tipaka.”
The design for the jewelry and fashion accessory components come from their clients, she said.
“Ang mga exporters ra ang muhatag sa kapital para sa pagpalit sa mga gamiton, maong ang pinaka-importante ra jud kay ang pagkugi,” she said. (The exporters provide the money we need to buy raw materials, that’s why the most important thing is hardwork.)
