“What is the secret of your success?” What we have are many open secrets like discipline in production, cleanliness, orderliness, good manufacturing practices (GMP), commitment, dedication, perseverance, team work, innovation, sharing blessings and value formation. Above all, the one big secret? Prayer and dependence on God’s abiding providence.
Sr. M. Guadalupe Bautista, local leader of Good Shepherd Baguio, replied to the often asked question about the Mountain Maid Training and Development Foundation’s secret of success.
Sr. Guadalupe gave a presentation during the October 20-21, 2011 conference, “Social Enterprise: The Next Business Model” spearheaded by the Peace and Equity Foundation as part of the foundation’s 10th anniversary. Other organizers are the league of Corporate Foundations, Management Association of the Philippines, Philippine Business for Social Progress and PinoyME Foundation. (Related story, click here)
In her presentation, Sr. M. Guadalupe traced the beginnings of the Mountain Maid Training Center that sprang from the need to feed and clothe poor children from the Cordillera who were taken care of by the Good Shepherd Sisters.
She shared about Sr. M. Carmel Medalla’s idea to prepare strawberry jams from the recipe that she learned in the novitiate in Los Angeles. Since strawberries abound in the Cordillera, the strawberry jams that they bottled and sold to friends or neighbors gained fame and had an increase in demand because of the quality of the product. As years went on, Sisters who were assigned in Baguio added more products that were available in the store. The sales enabled the sisters to feed the youth and gave the students opportunity to finish their studies. (Please read full text of the presentation. Click here).
Besides, Sr. M. Guadalupe, other resource persons who shared during the conference were: Millie Kilayko, co-founder of the Association of Negros Producers, Ramon Uy who narrated his original farm waste management idea, Ramon Uy Jr who recounted how he extended the business into Veggie Eden, a brand of organic vegetables, and Jim Ayala who talked about environment friendly businesses.
The two-day conference, a project of the civil society and business sectors, was an attempt to examine the different social enterprise models.
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