From sugar factory worker to jobless mother of five to blossoming middle-aged woman with a vision, Yoli has triumphed and remains hopeful about the future.

• Yoli moved to Manila from the Philippines' central Iloilo as a teenager looking for more opportunity. Her first job was as a door-to-door sales rep selling cleaning supplies.
• After realizing this gig didn't have a future, Yoli took a job in a sugar refinery factory weighing raw materials, and eventually becoming a supervisor.
• After she married, her husband didn't want her to work, so she stayed home and cared for their five children.
• When we asked Yoli what achievement makes her most proud, she told us about the time from 1998 to 2000, when she was jobless and relied on the help of friends to survive. She tearfully shared that this was a time when her children "only ate once per day" since she and her husband didn't have enough money to buy food… Despite all of this, she and her family made it through, and she tells us that she learned during this time the power of God and of family.
• Today, Yoli excitedly tells us that she's earning three times the minimum wage and is able to support her family. "Maraming salamat po, Ma'am Gianna." (Translation: Many thanks to GIANNA and to all.")

Yoli's determination to provide for her family and help them get the education they need to succeed is a dream that's as alive as the woman herself.

• Yoli tells us that she has to remain strong for her kids. She says she dreams about sending her children to school so they can pursue their studies.
• She values the steady income that sewing fair trade recycled billboard items affords her, and she uses the money to pay for normal family expenses, like electricity, medicine, etc.
• Aside from work, she dreams of making perfume! (Yoli always smells delightful in her homemade mixes!) She makes perfume for fun at home and comments that it'd be fun to earn money from this one day.

The age discrimination that exists in factory jobs in the Philippines created the opportunity for Yoli to work with us. And now that she's on our team, she uses her incredible sewing abilities to craft exquisite recycled billboard products!

• Yoli says that if not for working with us, she'd have unstable work, if she was working at all.
• She remains strong she says "for her kids," but we see an inner strength that would exist no matter the circumstances.
• Because of her earnings, Yoli's able to cover her family expenses, as well as pay for normal education expenses for her five children. (Public school in the Philippines costs money as families are expected to pay for uniforms, books, school fees, etc.)
• Yoli smiles a tender smile as she says, "Thank you for this opportunity and for what you do. My family and me thank you and thank God for this blessing."