Fanned with love

Artist Joy Jesena Barcelon never expected her passion for art would turn into a “good business” she fondly calls “Crafted with love” online.

Her three-year-old handicrafts startup under JCJ Barcelon Enterprises employs 20 mothers from a depressed community in Upper Sucat North, Parañaque City. The enterprise’s social mission is to empower mothers through art. The enterprise believes they can develop not only the mothers’ skills but also their self-efficacy, which is vital to fulfilling their role as caregivers of their homes.

“Frankly speaking, initially [it was hard teaching the women how to sew]. Some of them were [domestically] abused. They’ve lost their self-worth, so they were afraid to try new things. But I nagged them at trying it. That was how they became artisans,” says Barcelon, who is a volunteer art instructor at Action for the Care and Development of the Poor in the Philippines (Acap) in Parañaque City since 2015.

Hobby turned business

Acap is a nonprofit organization that aims to empower the marginalized youth in the Philippines through education, art and skills development.

As part of her volunteer work, Barcelon, a mother herself, initially taught the mothers of the Acap kids her ultimate hobby—designing buri fans.

Fifty eight-year-old Barcelon creates the product designs herself, which are all Filipiniana. Then the mothers carefully stitch the beads to various locally woven fabrics and applique that are precisely sewn over the buri fans, “panuelos” or shawls and canvas bags.

“I ask the mothers what they think of their output. They would say that it’s not properly sewn. So I let them give feedback on their own work. Gradually, I was amazed by how perfect their sewing has become. Even I couldn’t do better than them,” she says.

It was during Barcelon’s mentorship when she realized the business potential of the crafts they were producing.

“After a while, the fans kept building up. I didn’t know what to do with it. So I decided to post on Facebook about it. Surprisingly, an acquaintance from the United States ordered. It was big news for me that somebody actually likes the fans and will pay for it,” she recalls.

Barcelon eventually got more orders here and abroad. The products are also occasionally showcased in art bazaars and fairs such as the MaArte Fair of the Museum Foundation of the Philippines (MFPI) and Likhang Habi of the Philippine Textile Council (Habi). The most recent feature is in an ongoing three-month fan exhibit in Prado Farms in Pampanga.

Products as artworks

“Crafted with love” fans also feature paintings of 26-year-old Victor Francesco “Vico” Cham, an artist with autism. Cham’s designs usually celebrate womanhood, such as geishas and Cleopatra. As the enterprise promotes eco-friendly consumerism, his designs are painted and sewn on recycled barong Tagalog, using jusi fabric.

The enterprise also caters to weddings, providing customized giveaways, as it prides itself for putting personal touch in every product.

“[For example] In commemoration of my mother-in-law, I made about seven fan designs from her old shawl. And then I gave it to my sisters-in-law. They appreciated it because it’s something from their mom. You can make it as an extension of the person who used to wear the clothes,” she says.

A fan costs between P350 and P1,500, panuelo at P900, and a canvas bag at P500.

According to Barcelon, the prices are a bit high as they produce not just mere products but masterpieces.

“We sell the fan as an artwork. It’s not utilitarian anymore. Well, some people even want it framed,” she says.

Barcelon, a graduate of Advance Interior Design from the Philippine School of Interior Design, admits running an art business is hard.

On a good day, a sewer can earn P400-P1,000. So far, the mothers can only work at least twice a week at the Acap center, due to lack of a steady market.

“It was February 14, a bazaar day. [I got] zero sales! I can’t afford such a risky investment every month. It’s all my personal money so far. That’s why I’m looking for investors,” she says, explaining why she diverted most of the enterprise’s marketing efforts online, particularly on social media.

Joy Barcelon with the mother-sewers. —PHOTOS BY MARK TOLDO

Empowering mothers

According to Acap, since the business started in 2015, there has been significant development in the wellbeing of the mothers, most of whom lacked proper education and were unemployed.

“Joy’s project has a very positive effect on the children. You can see it in the kids. They are confident. When a mother is so burdened with poverty, she cannot give or project love anymore. But because the mothers have work, the children are more secure. And if women are empowered, they are positive,” says Acap president and program director Didit van der Linden.

“Since they are earning already, I see a few instances where they are able to give in to their child’s request for a snack in the nearby store. Before, if they had no money, they would reprimand the child immediately,” Barcelon says.

Hearing clients provide positive feedback further boosts the mothers’ self-esteem, she adds.

Fifty four-year-old Evangeline Mabal, for example, brims with pride whenever she sees a satisfied client. But more than this, she is grateful she no longer does scavenging.

“My husband had stroke six years ago, so I have been the breadwinner since then. My three grandchildren are also under my care. Here, I learned a new skill—sewing. And craft-making is definitely more profitable than scavenging,” says Mabal who belongs to one of over a hundred informal settler families who were recently evicted from their shanties.

“Before, mothers like me would just gossip and loiter around the community as we got nothing to do, we were unemployed. But now, we are productive. I even get to augment the earnings of my husband who is a habal-habal driver. We also learned some values like being helpful to one another and saving money,” says 32-year-old Maricel Amora, a mother of two.

It was the mothers themselves who thought of saving up a portion of their earnings in a bank. For Barcelon, it’s a good indication of values development in the women.

“I was so flabbergasted. I thought they lived hand-to-mouth. So when they initiated saving up, for me, that was a big thing. I was teary eyed after hearing it,” Barcelon says.

Barcelon hopes to tap more markets so she could train more mothers from the nearby communities to become artisans.