The Good Shepherd Baguio Online Shop was launched on Sunday, June 7, 2020, and today, June 8, the feast of Blessed Maria Droste, the office in Quezon City was blessed. The online shop may be visited in Facebook.
Good Shepherd Baguio Online Shop (Open with Facebook)
Our Story
“You
help send us to college each time you buy our products”. You find this tag in every bottle of Mt. Maid-Good Shepherd Baguio products.
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Blessing of the Office of Good Shepherd Baguio Online Shop on June 8, in Quezon City.
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| The Good Shepherd |
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| From left, Sr. Gemma, Sr. Susan, Sr. Amy |
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| Sr. Gemma blesses the office, the sisters and the young ladies. |
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| Sr. Cielo, Sr. Susan, Sr. Gemma, Ms. Julina Tay-eo, Ms. Aldra Pindog, Ms. Leonila Yagyagan, Sr. Amy |
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| Sr. Regina, Sr. Susan, Sr. Gemma, Ms. Julina Tay-eo, Ms. Aldra Pindog, Ms. Leonila Yagyagan, Sr. Amy |
The social enterprise of Mountain Maid Training & Development Foundation,
Inc. supports the college education of Cordillera youth from
the six tribes of the Cordillera
Administrative Region (CAR) -Abra,
Benguet, Mt. Province, Ifugao, Kalinga and Apayao. It partners with strawberries farmers in Benguet and Mt.
Province. It supports
ube and peanut
farmers from Ilocos Sur , La
Union, Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, Quezon,
Aurora, Quirino and Isabela.
Covid-19
pandemic poses a big challenge to our social enterprise. Restrictions for tourists to travel to Baguio
and the closure of enterprises meant the
students from the Cordillera cannot work at the Mountain Maid Training Center
and earn their way to college.
For several months during the lockdown about 29 students were at the Good
Shepherd Convent in Baguio, even if there was no production.
Good
Shepherd Sisters have to think of an
alternative to bring its products to the Customers through Digital Marketing.
Sr. Guadalupe Bautista RGS, product developer of Good Shepherd products in Baguio said, "For
as long as there is no vaccine for the
current epidemic, the less human contact there is, the better for the common good. Good Shepherd Baguio products will be sold
on line.
Challenges Before Covid-19
1990 Killer Earthquake
The July 16, 1990 earthquake that
devasted Baguio destroyed the infrastructure of Mt. Maid Training Center. It took seven (7) years of hard work, innovation and dedication of its stakeholders to fully recover from the ruins and the
rubble. It was after the earthquake that
the Center accepted young men from the Cordillera in the Training Center. It
also made a decision that Cordillera Youth
were the priority in its
student-workers program.
2004 Meningo Cocima Epidemic
From October 2004 to May 2005, tourists shunned Baguio and its produce
due to the miningo cocima epidemic in the city.
How did Mt. Maid Training Center survive? It continued to provide employment to the
students. It marketed its products
through the network of Good Shepherd communities in Metro Manila. Thanks to loyal customers, no staff was laid
off and the students continued their studies.
K-12 Program of DepEducation
From 2016 to 2018, there was a two- year gap in accepting new working
students. Annually, Mt. Maid Training
Center accepts one hundred (100) new applicants.
Climate Change
Due to global warming, farmers suffer from floods, typhoons, landslides,
droughts, low productivity. Typhoons Lando and Lawin devastated
strawberry fields In Benguet. The
situation gets worse, not better every year.
Supply and Demand Challenge
The demand for Mt. Maid-Good Shepherd products grew exponentially
that management decided to go
semi-mechanized in 2010. This enabled the students to better balance time for work and time for study. The changes introduced were: from boiling
ube in pots to cooking ube in pressure cooker using steam for energy; from manual to mechanized mixing and cooking; from manual filling to mechanized filling. Ube jam is pasteurized to keep the integrity
and quality of the product for as long as it is chilled. Di dapat mainitan ang ube jam. Dapat naka refrigerate.
The Good Shepherd Sisters are grateful to those who support our programs and patronize our products.