A Scuffed brown wooden bench in front of a school serves as a symbol of the struggles endured by women left behind by their migrant spouses. The bench at Teodoro M. Luansing College in neighboring town of Rosario is where Marivic Valencia, 43, sells adobong mani (roasted peanuts) during her school break and take care of her of her two children in between. The P200 daily profit she earns bankrolls many things.Aside from the school needs of her 17-year-old son Christopher and milk for her two-year-old Christina, her earnings also supplement the expenses for her own schooling. Valencia is now on her third year in Computer Science degree program. The money supplements what husband Rogelio sends as a construction worker in Saudi Arabia. “If I don't do these things, the remittance from Rogelio will not be enough for sure. I have to do my share here.” On the average, Valencia says her husband sends P9,000 a month, although there was times that he sends as much as P25,000. She said this may appear be big enough for some people in their locality but she is looking to the future when her husband couldstop working overseas and stay with the family. “You may have lots of money, but that will be of no use if the family's apart,” she said. At one time, she went into hog and poultry-raising business. However, her hogs and chickens died in a pestilence and left her indebted. She was sued by creditors. Valencia said she told Rogelio about the lawsuit, who encouraged her to settle the debt. Having survived that, Rogelio decided to go back to Saudi Arabia for another stint. “We do not aspire to become rich. We just want to live a simple life,” Valencia said. The simple life Valencia lives starts before the break of dawn. At 5 A.M. , she cooks breakfast for her son. While her baby's still asleep, she goes to the local market to buy the day's meal and the peanuts she would cook, pack, and sell for the day. House chores and taking care of her baby follow. Right after lunch, she walks from their house to the bench at Luansing College to sell peanuts for P10 each brown pocket paper bags. Sales, she said, are enough to give son Christopher a day's fare of P100 from Rosario to the Lyceum of Batangas in Batangas City, the provincial capital, and back, and enough to buy milk for baby Christine. She stops selling when she goes to class, which starts late afternoon and ends at near dusk. Upon arriving home, Valencia takes over the care of her baby from a relative who lives nearby. Only after feeding her children does she review her lessons and work on her assignment in school. During weekends, Valencia performs her role as president of the Rosario OFW Association, a small self-help group of OFW family members and former OFWs. Valencia says perseverance has kept her going. She's not ashamed selling peanuts or by studying alongside far-younger classmates. “I don't want to ask for more money (from my husband) every time. I don't want to borrow money, too.” In a country where many spouses are separated due to overseas employment, Valencia said she always thinks her husband is just “beside her,” especially during difficult times. “I [try to] understand the situation there [in Saudi Arabia],” she said. Valencia said the spouse is also a key actor in such a situation. “The spouse is the one who will [strengthen] your resolve.” Valencia's entrepreneurship is what advocate May Ann Villalba said can reverse the “imbalance of power” characterizing migration. Valencia appears to be on her way to achieving this. From selling roasted peanuts, she has gone into cooking peanut butter and takes some risks. Valencia said that one time, she gave 30 bottles of peanut butter worth P2,500 to a woman she met during a meeting. Easily the lady can run away with the money and Valencia can kiss her capital goodbye. “I just trusted her, and she trusted me back. She is a regular client for three months now,” Valencia said. She also rents out her two desktop computers at home. Sometimes, she also sells Avon-branded beauty products. Still, Villalba said several issues are facing migrant workers who are into into entrepreneurship.Among these, she said, is lack of incentives and protection for migrant families going into “enterprise development.” But Valencia said she enjoys what she had been doing and this keeps her going on.
