Edith is slowly rising above the poverty into which she was born and has accomplished things like being the first in her family to graduate from high school!

• After marrying at 19 years old and having her third child, Edith resigned from her factory job and began making seat covers from home while her husband worked in the city as a Xerox operator and a cafeteria waiter.
• Shortly after she started working from home, her husband lost his jobs and, as Nanay Edith says, he became the cook in their house! (remember that Edith has a huge family!)
• Of Edith's 10 children, 3 currently live with her, 5 have families, and 2 stay with their in-laws, a practice common in the Philippines.
• Edith's husband, whom she met at a party years ago, is a traffic enforcer in Manila.
• When Edith isn't working or spending time with her family, she loves to sing!!

Edith truly embodies selflessness, so it was rather difficult getting her to answer our questions about her dreams directly!

• Like many of the mothers with whom we work, Edith's dreams are to help her remaining children finish their studies (her youngest is currently in 5th grade), then she says she'll probably focus on helping her (currently) 11 grandchildren get through school.
• Really, other than this simple dream of helping her family, Edith couldn’t come up with other "dreams" or aspirations. When we asked her multiple times in multiple ways, she just laughed nervously, smiled her genuine, heart-felt smile, and said that she has enough.

Empowerment, knowledge, fulfillment, and a connection to something greater than herself – these are the ways Nanay Edith tells us we help make a difference in her life.

• Edith is a very modest and humble woman, and she spends most of her earnings on medicine and family expenses.
• She cites the education, knowledge, and fair trade workshops as key differences that she's learned the past year or so.
• Perhaps more than the fair trade wages, Edith tells us that she just loves the atmosphere of being able to help each other and understand each other. (She's referencing the community of women who have come together in this impoverished part of Manila in order to craft beautiful, fair trade products!)
• We love having Nanay Edith on our team and truly feel like she's part of the family.