Economics in the Philippine islands looks a little different. Community based economics with close knit families work at a much more personal level than the globalization that you observe on the international market. Agriculture and fishing take center stage instead of technology or cars.
On the islands, a lot of the economy revolves around the local farmer and their small farm. So the biggest impact one can have on an entire community is to enable the farmer, or group of farmers, to grow and increase their product so that the community together can grow as a group.
Pig farms typically come with a host of issues, making it difficult to manage and grow them at scale. On top of that, our vision for this project was to create a community piggery business, which brings on a new set of logistical challenges.
To plan, we first talked with local pig farmers who knew the area and had experience with raising pigs. They helped us find and secure a good plot of land, which was a little far from the village but still sources from the running water supply.
Construction on the farm had begun with the help of our amazing volunteers in the community. And over the course of several months, a good sized pig pen began to take shape. Not without its challenges for sure. The summer months in tropical humid heat is not an easy time to do construction, especially for a pig farm as big as the one we had planned.
Thankfully, the piggery business opened and saw immediate gains. As the pigs grew and were sold, families were able to make a good profit and the pigs only began to multiply. More than this, testament from our volunteers have said that the community itself gained a renewed sense of pride, and the piggery project became a point of unity among the residents.
More than selling pigs and generating income for good, honest workers, Aspire to Dream’s vision for outreaches such as this one is ultimately to build up individuals, and hope to plant seeds of prosperity and hope among them in the village. To give them more than an opportunity to generate income, but a sense that there are people who support their well being and growth, and a community in Aspire to Dream that they can fall back on for anything