Sweeping aside losses for a brighter future

For those who can’t afford vacuum cleaners, brooms are reliable tools for cleaning the house.

For Gina Miltante, a 44-year-old resident of barangay Paknaan, Mandaue City, making brooms has become a steady source of livelihood.

Militante, one of 23 finalists in the Search for WINNERS or Women in Need Now Entrepreneurs and Role Models last August, has been making brooms for two decades now.

“I started with the business in 1991 right after my fifth child, seven-month-old Sarah Jane, died to pneumonia meningitis,” she said.

Her personal tragedy became her source of motivation to find a stable source of livelihood.

“I thought only of engaging in business because I didn’t finish a degree and doing business was the only opportunity for us,” she said.

Militante had to take part-time jobs cleaning drainage canals while her daughter Queenie accepting laundry jobs.

They saved up P1,000 to buy the raw materials for making brooms like bamboo sticks for the handle and fiber for the bristles.

Militante said she learned how to make brooms from her friends and soon mastered the craft by herself.

She gained a lot of buyers, some of whom ordered in bulk.

“For retail I sell my brooms at P15 each and for bulk orders I sell it at P11 only,” Militante said.

The brooms come in green and pink bristles and bamboo handles tied with old rubber tires for comfort and secure handling, she said.

Militante sells 50 to 60 brooms or at least P750 daily.

“I know there will always be people and families who will need brooms. That is why I chose to do this business,” Militante said.

Militante said she would start making brooms after bringing her children to school and finishing her chores.

“Once they get back from school, I stop for a while to fix them lunch and then go back to making the brooms again,” she said.

Militante said her children also help her out in making brooms once they finish their studies.

Since six years ago, Militante had to work double-time after her husband Adelaido died.

She was thankful that she set up her broom-making business years before as it became a steady source of income for her.

Militante has one high school graduate and three high school students while the youngest is still in elementary school.

She said she was thankful about being one of the 23 finalists in the Winners search organized by the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry in partnership with the University of San Carlos and ABS-CBN’s Kapamilya Negosyo Na.

“I will use what I learned during the training so that I can see my business grow,” Militante said.