Elma Paredes Tabanggay
Elma Paredes Tabanggay is a 29 year-old married mother. She lives and weaves in her home in Aborlan. Elma has been weaving for six years now. She started weaving right after she graduated from college. She was still single then and lived in a boarding house in the City and sustained herself while weaving in the center for three years. She has now been weaving for about three years at home. When she was weaving in the center she was earning 2,000-4,000 pesos a month and when she started weaving at home she would earn 500-5,000 pesos depending on the subsequent orders. Her husband is a furniture maker who makes 5,000-15,000 pesos per month, like Elma this is dependent on his sales or orders.

In 2003 she married and subsequently moved to Aborlan where she now resides with her husband. Right after she had married she stopped with her weaving activities but after six months she decided to start again. When asked why she decided to started again she explained that at times when she had nothing to do at home she missed her weaving activities. So upon her initiative and with the help of RSTF, she put up a weaving center near her home in Aborlan. In that center she trained women from the area and proceeded to weave there with the women until they too received master weaver status and returned home. At that point she too began to weave in her own home.

When asked about her household chores, she said that when she would weave it was still the same as when she was not weaving. Although she also mentioned that at this point she and her husband would take turns with some of these chores. When asked about how much time she devotes to weaving she said that usually she would spend 10 hours a day so she could reach her quotas. But even if she does allot that much time to her weaving she says that she can still give eight to ten hours for her family. Now that she has a baby she changed her weaving schedule; she usually weaves in the evenings when her baby is asleep or is with her husband. Even while she weaves she can still talk to her husband who usually sits by her and helps her weft the fiber.

Now that she weaves at home she only visits the center once to twice a month, this is to deliver her fabric and to collect materials for the next orders. Elma believes that weaving can be a long term economic activity she claims that she will continue as long as she can. Also she had mentioned that her weaving and earning money gave her a sense of independence, she could buy what she needed without always having to ask for permission from her husband.

Husband’s interview
Elma’s husband said that when his wife was weaving in the center they would still see each other and talk since the center is not far from their home. When asked what his wife is like when she was not weaving he said that she was still happy but she seemed happier when she started weaving again. He said that one of the reasons why she started weaving again was because she missed it and wanted something to do. He understood that it was a large part of Elma’s life. According to him he does not mind that she weaves because it is a big help to their family. He also maintained that it did not hinder their interaction since most of the time he would sit with her and weft while she would weave. When asked about whether Elma goes about her household chores, he said that she would be able to perform them all. He added that they take turns especially since they now have a son.

In the case of Elma Paredes the researcher did not include her budget chart because when she was weaving in the center and she was single with very different expenses compared to when she started weaving at home once she was married. The researcher did not apply the same trending to her case, however through interview she did mention that when she was single she had minimal expenses, which amounted to 3,500 monthly for personal expenditure. She had some saving but not much because at times there was nothing to weave so she would use the money to save to be able to sustain herself. Now that she is married she says that she contributes one-third of their total budget and her husband provides the rest.

When they first married in 2003 there was a period when Elma stopped weaving. At that point all the household chores were her duty. By the time she started weaving again her husband helped out more in the cooking and other tasks. There has not been a change from when she wove in the center and in the home because the center she worked in after she married was beside their home.

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