The Dream Lives On
Ms. Cielo Bueno – Founder/Prime Mover
Kaakbay Entre-Worker Cooperative
16 years ago, Ms. Cielo
and 15 women dreamed to put up a company which they themselves will
own. They joined hands and formed a pioneering organization-model
called Entrepreneur-Worker Cooperative where each member’s work
input/output is her stake in the cooperative. Unlike a savings and
loan cooperative, this cooperative involved no cash outlay; only
dedication and commitment to work were needed.
The primary
objective of the cooperative was to provide employment and social
security for its members and their families and to ensure economic
sustainability of the business enterprise. These, Kaakbay, has
achieved and many times, has helped a network of community-based
women organizations during periods when demand for Kaakbay's
products are high. Ms. Cielo is especially happy to say that many of
the children of members have become professionals and have graduated
from college and high school. The members enjoy benefits such as
membership in Medicare and SSS and profit sharing.
Why Kaakbay?
Ms. Cielo explains that the cooperative is there to help each other
and other women be economically sufficient. To this end, Kaakbay
means – somebody one walks with, a companion, a partner, someone
one can trust to accompany you “sa hirap at ginhawa”. To date,
there are 50 co-worker/co-owner members who operate the cooperative
which has expanded its market operation in Metro Manila and to
adjoining cities and provinces.
Kaakbay is a
unique business entity as only members have “stocks and stock
options”, meaning, the workers are also the owners. It is a social
enterprise that empowers marginalized groups (especially women
groups). It manufactures filing-systems products (arch-file binders,
flexi-fillers, 3-ring binders) thus responding to the filing and
organizing needs and requirements of mainstream business. It also
provides assessment and solution-options for cost effective, space
saving management of paper documents.
“I am proud to
say that the cooperative has been successfully replicated in Tabaco
City, Albay (Kaakbay San Lorenzo EWC) and in Calamba City, Laguna
(Kaakbay Calabarzon EWC). We have tried to replicate the cooperative
in other areas but I guess, they are not yet ready. In time, we will
revive these dormant cooperatives and make them responsive to the
needs of women in the area where they are located.
“Why women?
Because women are the ones keeping the family together and, making
these women economically self-sufficient will ensure that the family
remains intact and the children are cared for. To this end, Gifts
and Graces assists us by carrying our products to where they are
better exposed and better known to the buying public. If more people
buy our products, this cooperative of women will endure”.
