Sunday, July 15, 2007 From making candles to teaching kids
POVERTY spoiled his dream of getting a college degree.
He was a working student during his college days. During one of his vacations here, he once told his mother "Di na ko mouli kon bakasyon kay wala koy pamasahe pabalik sa (I don’t usually go home during vacation because, if I do I don’t have money for my fare back to) MSU-Marawi."
Unable to finish his Bachelor in Physical Education (BPE) course at the Mindanao State University in Marawi City, David Calungsod, 44, decided to return home here to chart his own destiny.
He went through a lot of hardships, but every time he slipped he'd bounce back with renewed vigor and optimism.
He's sharing his success story to serve as inspiration to college dropouts and others who dream of carving their own niche in life.
He is a modern-day David who wanted to overcome, not necessarily Goliath, but gargantuan trials and problems that come across his life.
Taxi driver
For several years, David worked as a taxi driver.
He recounted the halcyon days of taxi business here - from 1995 to 1998 during the time of former mayor Rosalita Nuñez -- when he was earning enough to meet the basic needs of his family.
"I, myself, can attest that there were several investors, foreign and local alike, who kept coming back and forth to General Santos. I was then plying the airport route and I could hear their conversations while driving," Calungsod said.
However, after nearly losing his life to taxi robbers, he decided to look for other means of livelihood.
He claimed he was robbed four times by unidentified suspects.
Janitor and messenger
In year 2000, he worked as janitor/messenger at one of the commercial banks here.
His income and that of his wife, Fe, who is a front desk attendant at Casa Luisa Restaurant here, could hardly make ends meet.
"Our combined income was hardly enough to support all our basic needs. So I decided to find ways to earn extra income," Calungsod said.
He was not expecting such opportunity would come after attending a candle-making seminar conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) here.
Candle-making project
David claimed it was his wife who was interested to attend in the candle-making seminar.
But due to time constraint, she asked him to attend instead.
After the seminar, David re-echoed to his wife what he had learned from the skills training.
In 2003, their candle-making project started with a mere P2,500 seed money. The amount was used for buying one sack of paraffin wax, dye, scent and decorative ribbons.
They are earning around P4,000 monthly out of their candle-making project.
The couple decided to register their business with the DTI under the business name "Mazliah's Candle Innovation."
The couple thanked the management of Casa Luisa Restaurant for allowing them to display their products at the restaurant.
Most of their clients were customers holding parties like wedding, baptism, birthday and other social events at the Casa Luisa Restaurant.
Cherished dream
The former taxi driver admitted they just used candle-making project to fulfill their dream of putting up their own pre-school.
"Putting up a school for kids is really my cherished dream," Calungsod confided.
For seven months, they put aside their P4,000 monthly income from candle-making to build a three-classroom building for nursery, kindergarten 1 and 2 in a 1,200-square meter lot in Lagao village here.
They issued post-dated checks to Johnson Hardware during the purchase of construction materials.
"Casa Luisa is the caterer of Johnson Hardware during parties and special occasions. So my wife was allowed to issue post-dated checks. Hinahabol lang namin ang tseke sa pamamagitan ng income ng aming (We settle checks through our income from) candle-making project," Calungsod claimed.
The Darda Christian Learning School started operating in 2004 with permits from the Department of Education (DepEd).
It is a church-based learning institution which aims to offer not just quality pre-school education but basic Christian values to young children.
Calungsod, who is also a pastor of Inter-Denominational Christian Group Ministries, Inc., revealed he came up with the idea of putting up his own pre-school facility after talking to a close friend.
"I was alone playing the guitar when my friend, who is a teacher, approached me and asked what I was thinking. I told her, I'm thinking about how to reach out more parents and kids to teach the gospel," Calungsod said.
The teacher, whose family had already transferred to other place, contacted the parents, while David took charge of the school site and building.
In 2004, during the first-year operation, Darda Christian Learning School had 64 enrollees.
In the succeeding school year, the number of enrollees rose to 75.
At present, it has 60 students after the school management adopted a strict policy in accepting pre-schoolers.
"We became strict when it comes to age. We would like to produce quality graduates here," Calungsod stressed.
Right now, he said, he is already capable of venturing into other business endeavor.
He looks forward to the coming of the day when his school expands and offer elementary education.
He was thankful to the DTI technical staff who are currently helping him prepare a feasibility study.
"I am looking for a financial aid from abroad," he claimed.
