Blogs

Grace Moñera holds a curtain made out of bamboo at a small shop in Tabango town in Leyte province, south of Manila, Philippines. Photo: Basilio Sepe / Oxfam Pilipinas

Leyte district gives basket weaving a modern spin to support local artisans, inclusive businesses

Grace Moñera, 32, was just a child when her father first taught her how to cut bamboo and turn them into amakan or woven split-bamboo mats that are commonly used as wall paneling for traditional houses in some parts of rural Philippines. Knowing this craft has allowed her to earn extra money as she...

Marivic Dubria inspects coffee cherries on her family’s 2-hectare farm in Bansalan town, Davao del Sur. Dubria is among the farmer trainees of Coffee for Peace, a social enterprise that is a member of the Poverty Reduction through Social Entrepreneurship (PRESENT) Coalition, which is a partner of Oxfam Pilipinas under The Gender Transforma-tive and Responsible Agribusiness Investments in South East Asia (GRAISEA) program. Photo by Roy Lagarde / Oxfam Pilipinas

Davao coffee shop helps lift farmers out of poverty

DAVAO CITY — Marivic and Joe Randy Dubria live in a farming village in Bansalan, Davao del Sur, at the foothills of the Mt. Apo, the highest mountain in the Philippines. The couple worked hard but they struggled to make ends meet. Vegetable farming brought little income while Marivic’s take home...

A rural health unit in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao. (Photo: Eleanor Farmer/Oxfam)

Transforming women’s silent or silenced issues

As we usher in a new world, we must choose what to bring and what not. Using Sarah Longwe’s women empowerment framework, there are five basic aspects of empowerment: welfare, access, conscientization, participation, and control.

Sarah Dilangelan, President of the Women’s Federation of Datu Abdullah Sangki, Maguindanao, shows the finished Inaul gown to the two women in Datu Abdullah Sangki, Maguindanao. These women are part of the cash-for-work support program by Oxfam and Rural Development Institute of Sultan Kudarat, with the support from The People of Government and Japan and UN Women. (Photo: Princess Tarroza/Oxfam)

A Better Normal

Ma. Victoria R. Raquiza of Social Watch Philippines wrote this opinion piece to emphasize the vital role of social policies, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable families reeling from the impact of the pandemic. Raquiza shared her reflections during the webinar organized by Oxfam...

When fathers care

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented changes to our way of lives. For one, work-from-home arrangements have turned our homes into our workspaces, creating a dilemma about when work exactly begins and ends each day.