Being Present: Insights about reaching communities on-the-ground

By Loiz Estudillo, Community Programs Manager at Villgro Philippines

Working on-the-ground would really make you realize things that our fellow countrymen need, especially those who are living in far-flung communities. When I got into Villgro Philippines, one of the first things I experienced was the on-the-ground site visit to our dear enterprises in Mindanao for the ISIP Project. I traveled from Manila to South Cotabato, to North Cotabato, and then Davao. During that visit, I got to connect with the enterprises on a deeper level, seeing how they do their work on-the-ground, their current state and condition, and being able to experience their culture in their community made me see things beyond what meets the eye.

Ever since then, I fell in love with doing community work, being able to directly impact the lives of the enterprises by simply listening to their stories and nurturing the Filipino value of pakikisama.

Recently, I did another on-the-ground visit in Palawan for our Nature2Nurture Program, which aims to support Nature-based Enterprises based in Palawan. In what ways can we help community-based enterprises and organizations here in the Philippines?

Here’s what I learned by being on-the-ground with our cohort Angkat Palawan, Eco Sanctuaries, and Kebyagan Teyo Handicrafts Trading:

1. Be physically present. You need to earn their trust and you can only do so when you visit them in-person. It will be harder for them to warm up when they can only see your emails or if you just keep on cold calling them. Seeing that you are a real person with pure intentions will help them be more interested in listening to what you are offering.
2. Identify their needs. Some of them won’t be so familiar with how incubation programs work, some of them are not aware of the basics such as pitch decks, or business model canvas. Try to identify these needs and provide necessary support.
3. Try your best to meet their needs. Whatever support you can offer will be a great help for them even the simplest use of language that is most relatable to them can be really helpful in reaching them. Providing financial support for transportation or lodging if necessary is also encouraged when letting them meet you at a certain place.
4. Seek community support. As I have mentioned, it might not be easy to gain the trust of the community people. We must seek support from people or organizations in the community that have been present and are already acquainted with the communities you want to support. Working with them would make things easier for both parties.
5. Think of other ways you can support them. Apart from what you are currently offering, you might want to share any other initiatives that can support them such as inviting them to networking events, entrepreneurial communities, or by connecting them with other partners and organizations who can help them.

As the Community Programs Manager of Villgro Philippines, I realized that people in the community need more help. I saw an opportunity to support these women-owned and women-led enterprises through Villgro Philippines’ Nüshu Network but we have to go back to the basics for them and walk them through the world of incubation and accelerator programs and the entrepreneurial ecosystem. This can be done by providing learning sessions for them to learn and expand their knowledge about our ecosystem. I also noted that they appreciate learning sessions that use Filipino/Tagalog as the primary mode of communication, it makes the learning session more interactive and relatable to them.

Our recent community outreach in Palawan was made possible by collaborating with Rurungan sa Tubod Foundation and Binhi Mindful Market. They are community support organizations who connected us with the local community to reach them and offer support that Villgro Philippines has for them.

We are calling for other community organizations who want to work with us to make this possible. If you or someone you know has been working with community-based enterprises and wants to extend this support to them, we can look for ways to collaborate to provide support to your community. We are also calling out women entrepreneurs to join Nüshu Network to get support such as networking events, masterclasses, pitch coaching sessions, and learning sessions.

Together, we can make a difference one community at a time.