Rolando Mesias: PHILIPPINES

 

 

I was introduced to the Cooperative Movement in Mindanao, Philippines in 1995 after having spent much time as a church pastoral worker in the Catholic Church. Desiring to help the plight of the poor, I was attracted to the church’s teaching on social justice and went on to study theology. I soon found out that principles and practices of the cooperative movement are in relation with the church’s pronouncements about how poverty can be addressed, about total human development, and how the people become agents of social change. I was soon engaged in my role as a Manager of a savings and credit cooperative in Mindanao.
               

 

My master’s degree in Service, Leadership and Management from the School for International Training (SIT) in the U.S. was an avenue towards a new horizon, and a new perspective in my cooperative career. I was originally granted a Ford Fellowship to obtain a graduate degree in Management, and was intending to go to one of America’s traditional business schools. I ended up instead in a lonely town called Brattleboro, in the New England state of Vermont.

 

Student life in the U.S. was a personal and professional catharsis. I felt like an innocent kid coming from the province to the big city. At first, my school looked more like a farmhouse than a university, located far up in a remote hill. Some African students called it, “the edge of the world.”

 

Yet students from all over the globe had come to obtain their graduate degrees. SIT’s unique courses, from Sustainable Development to International Relations for Social Justice were tailored to my aspirations. Professors were of high caliber and the programs were unique. The multi-cultural environment blended perfectly with the awesome autumn season. Living there was like having an overview of the whole wide world, as I encountered the unique culture of each individual.

Absorbing the lessons was challenging at first, because it seemed like simple things got complicated as the discussion got deeper. Moreover, critical thinking was encouraged, thinking outside of the box was highly appreciated; drawing one’s conclusion and letting oneself be heard were the subtle norms. Equally challenging was the writing of five page papers as a reaction or a reflection to class lessons, which were required from time to time. The program required me to choose a six month internship period called a Reflective Phase Program (RPP), during which time I observed and reflected on what was going on in the world and connected the phenomena with theories and frameworks learned while on campus. Another six months was dedicated to research and thesis writing.

 

 

When I finally came home to the Philippines in 2009, I was met with a conflict at work involving one of the Coop officers in Mindanao. Two months after reporting back to my former job, I found myself resigning from my post.

My resignation surprised the other officers. Feeling betrayed, they blocked me from our network, published me in a local newspaper, called me names that destroyed my image. As a result, job opportunities became elusive to me. I was at a loss from the start, but as I examined my strengths and values, I told myself, “I am not an IFP Fellow for nothing”.

 

Realizing and reaffirming the knowledge, experience and self-confidence I gained from the fellowship, I soon began to accept consultancy projects with development organizations such as NGOs, Cooperatives and Foundations. I helped them develop their strategic and business plans, grant proposals, and policy manuals. I also took a part time teaching position at a local university, delighting in the thought that as an instructor, I was in a position to positively influence my students. I was teaching Strategic Management and other management subjects to Business Administration students and found it a compliment to my consultancy job.

 

Out of the crisis, a new identity appeared. I discovered that I had become an advocate for social entrepreneurship, and clearly defined my mission to work for small and developing social organizations working towards organizational stability. This knowledge became my personal strength and would define what I want to accomplish in life.

 

Soon I was travelling to provinces in Mindanao conducting trainings for cooperatives and other socially-minded organizations or small businesses that wanted to incorporate social justice into their work.

 

In August 2010, exactly one year after my personal and professional crisis, a cooperative more than twice the size of my former employer hired me as their new General Manager. Located in Maragusan, the Magrow Cooperative has four major business centers, and includes six special projects that are all socially relevant.

 

Maragusan is a Municipality of about 40,000 people in the newly created Province of Compostela Valley, east of the Davao Peninsula. It is a farming community that used to produce coffee beans and rice as its major products. In recent years, more farmlands were transformed into banana plantations to give way to concessioners from DOLE, the multinational company. The area is considered a conflict zone because of the significant presence of a government-led military and the leftist guerillas. As an IFP fellow, I believe it is not an accident I landed in this place.

 

Membership in the Cooperative is exclusively limited to local banana growers and their associates. All together, the Coop is composed of about 4,000 growers and their labor pool. They own and finance plantation of bananas, a consumer-convenient store, savings and credit department, labor pool, an internet shop, a bookkeeping service, banana flour processing, and trucking services.

 

Current members enjoy the benefits of their common achievements, such as receiving higher wages, and acquiring a good image in the community. The cooperative will go a long way, especially when they extend their services for the benefit of the whole community. One major challenge we face now is how to convince members to be open to non-growers and field laborers. Today, I hold in my hands the tools to strengthen and sustain my cooperative.

 

 

So this is my story. My journey was enhanced through the IFP Fellowship and nurtured through my desire to serve the common good.

 

In a recent gathering of newly-graduated Ford Fellows, the facilitator asked, “What have you become after your fellowship?”

 

I laughed and answered, “ Hindi na ako tanga!” (“I am not dumb anymore!”)