7 Jan 2013

PHILIPPINES / REMITTANCES

Each year, some ten million migrant workers leave the Philippines for better job opportunities. The 20 billion US dollars they send back home are vital for the economy – but very little of that flow of money is saved or invested. IFAD

Posted at: January 7, 2013 2:55 pm

Duration: 03:53

Available in: SD, HD

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Full script

STORY: PHILIPPINES / REMITTANCES
TRT: 3.53
SOURCE: IFAD
RESTRICTIONS: NONE  
LANGUAGE ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: JULY 2012, SAN PABLO, THE PHILIPPINES

SHOTLIST:

1.	Wide shot, sunrise over Lake San Palok 
2.	Med shot, fishing farm on lake
3.	Med shot, Lily Bruhl in kitchen cooking
4.	Med shot, Lily cooking
5.	Wide shot, Lily cooking with son
6.	SOUNDBITE (English) Lily Bruhl, Fisherwoman:
"My husband decided to go abroad in the year 1998. He went to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and my husband told me to stop working and take good care of the children."
7.	Various shots, photographs of Lily and husband
8.	Med shot, shacks on street
9.	Wide shot, shacks street
10.	Med shot, people outside Western Union
11.	Med shot, people in market
12.	Close up, money paid in market
13.	Med shot, people in market
14.	Wide shot, waterfront
15.	Med shot, people sitting at waterfront
16.	Med shot, Lily counting money with son
17.	Close up, counting money
18.	Med shot, Lily putting money in purse
19.	SOUNDBITE (English) Lily Bruhl, Fisherwoman:
"I have to pay the bills I have to pay everything and then afterwards I don't have enough money, so I was thinking this is the only money I have, how can I stretch this, I have four children and I am doing nothing."
20.	Wide shot, Lily and son walking
21.	Wide shot, financial literacy training
22.	Close up, women in training
23.	Close up, hands writing
24.	Med shot, training
25.	Close up, dream map with financial goals
26.	Med shot, people at training 
27.	Tilt up, man taking notes
28.	SOUNDBITE (English) Lily Bruhl, Fisherwoman:
"The first thing I was able to put in my mind is; if you receive remittance from your husband, save first before you spend. It also makes me realise that I have to be ready for the reintegration of my husband, because if I am not going to prepare who will prepare for us?"
29.	Med shot, training
30.	Med shot, participants at training
31.	Med shot, participants at training
32.	Med shot, Lily
33.	Med shot, Lily at market
34.	Pan left, from trader to Lily at market
35.	Close up, fish in bucket
36.	Med shot, Lily at fish pond
37.	Close up, Lily
38.	Tilt up, from net in fish pond to Lily and worker
39.	Close up, fish in net
40.	Med shot, Lily and worker checking fish
41.	SOUNDBITE (English) Lily Bruhl, Fisherwoman:
"The money that my husband sends me is 22, 000 and I gained 30,000 from the fish cages. I told myself: oh it's a lot of money. Maybe someday I can tell my husband you can come home."
42.	Wide shot, fish farm on lake
43.	Wide shot, Lily looking at lake
44.	Close up, Lily
45.	Med shot, worker throwing food to fish in fish farm
46.	Wide shot, busy street with traffic
47.	Med shot, tuk-tuks in traffic
48.	Med shot, Lily and son in tuk-tuk laughing

STORYLINE:

The sun is rising over Lake San Palok in the Philippines, and another busy day begins for Lily Bruhl. She has to start early to get everything done. With her husband working overseas, she's raising her four children on her own.

SOUNDBITE (English) Lily Bruhl, Fisherwoman:
"My husband decided to go abroad in the year 1998. He went to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and my husband told me to stop working and take good care of the children."

Lily's husband is one of an estimated 10 million Filipinos who have left the country to look for better job opportunities. Each year, these migrant workers send more than 20 billion US dollars back home. Their families who are left behind survive on these remittances. It's a flow of money that is vital for the economy, but very little of it is saved or invested.

On top of that, millions of people, like Lily, decided to stop working once their family member got a job overseas because, in the Philippines, they could earn very little themselves. So they now depend solely on this money from abroad. But, on average, each migrant sends back just 200 US dollars a month, and for most families this is not enough.

SOUNDBITE (English) Lily Bruhl, Fisherwoman:
"I have to pay the bills I have to pay everything and then afterwards I don't have enough money, so I was thinking this is the only money I have, how can I stretch this, I have four children and I am doing nothing."

So Lily decided to do something. She discovered a financial literacy training programme aimed at helping families of migrant workers. Supported by the UN's International Fund for Agricultural Development, this training teaches people about budgeting and how to better invest the money they receive from abroad. For Lily, this knowledge was life changing.

SOUNDBITE (English) Lily Bruhl, Fisherwoman:
"The first thing I was able to put in my mind is; if you receive remittance from your husband, save first before you spend. It also makes me realise that I have to be ready for the reintegration of my husband, because if I am not going to prepare who will prepare for us?"

Lily realised that for her husband to come home and not leave again, she would have to find a way for them to earn enough money in the Philippines. With the skills she got from the training, she set out in search of investment opportunities. And one day she found what she was looking for.

With money saved from her husband remittances, Lily decided to invest in a fish farm. With an initial capital of 5,000 pesos, which is just 120 US dollars, she bought two fish cages, and what happened after the first harvest was a huge surprise.

SOUNDBITE (English) Lily Bruhl, Fisherwoman:
"The money that my husband sends me is 22, 000 and I gained 30,000 from the fish cages. I told myself; oh it's a lot of money. Maybe someday I can tell my husband you can come home."
 
Less than a year later Lily, has 23 cages and is running a successful business, and she's also providing jobs to others in the community.

There are thousands of people like Lily who have attended this training and are using their remittances to build a more sustainable economy. 
 
And as Lily's business grows, so does her hope that it won't be long before her family is reunited.