I am Nelie A. Padas, 43 years old living with my husband and 3 children including two sons and one daughter in Purok Mangga, Camoning Asuncion, Davao Del Norte. My husband is a labor in a construction site and a farmer growing mangos, bananas, rice etc with me. Since 2004, I have been farming mangoes and have grown 19 mango trees at this time. Ever since I was child, I had helped my parents in farming. But, no matter how hard we work in the farm, we¹ve always been struggling in poverty.
In order to sell a small amount of mangos, we had no choice but to sell them to neighbors or local markets at a low price compared to commercial market,but the most impressive thing in Profairtrade (Preda Fair Trade) is that even a small quantity of mangos (even small ones) is accepted for good price and guaranteed condition and I could receive higher price as soon as we sold them to Preda through Profood because Profairtrade (Preda Fair Trade) provides an additional Php 2.00 per kilo. At the same time, I changed the way of farming to use natural fertilizer and bagging instead of spraying chemical. (Bagging is to place a paper bag around each small mango fruit on the tree so it grows in the bag free from the attack of insects).
And I participated the seminar provided by Profairtrade (Preda Fair Trade) about the ways of children care such as the importance of sending children to school and empower women rights specifically against physical violence. Mostly, I really appreciate receiving the Preda Fair trade premium (Bonus) which is indeed a great help in my need in supporting my children. It is used to supplement living expenses and make up for buying my kid¹s clothes and their allowances.
Besides, it is certainly a weight off my mind that my last daughter who is 6th in elementary school has been supported for free by Profairtrade (Preda Fair Trade) such as school supplies, school uniform for 3 years and a tri-bike as a mode of transportation in going to school provided by Profairtrade (Preda Fair Trade) 3 years ago, I¹m selling snacks and sliced mangos to school goers and give my kids a ride to school. My dream is to overcome poverty and make my children complete their studies. To do this, I hope our relation continues between Profairtrade (Preda Fair Trade) and poor farmers like me.
Thank you.
Nelie A. Padas
