Mary Ann Arevaloand her husband were having a hard time making ends meet. He didn’t have a regular income and she was caring full time, for her kids and for her bedridden mother-in-law who lives with them.

She decided to take out a loan to help earn money for the family. Mary Ann started with a Php 2,500 loan ($60 AUD), which she ploughed into creating a business, a small shop out of her house selling herbal medicines.

“Life was hard for us since my husband did not have a regular job and we have a hard time making ends meet,” she says about life before the loan.

But even while they were struggling, Mary Ann believed they could live a better life. “I really wanted to do something to help improve our situation,” she says.

Once she had the loan, things became more hopeful. “I felt that life got better. Having a loan helped me to work harder, especially as I need to pay for it every week,” she says.

That start in business from a loan, and the need to pay it off, changed Mary Ann’s life. She was able to make a financial contribution to her family. “Life is different – I became more creative in looking for new ways to earn money,” she says.

Alongside the microfinance loan, Mary Ann received financial literacy education from Good Return, given through a number of lively sessions which include practical knowledge and experiential learning. For Mary Ann, the most useful lesson was debt management training, which helped her to understand what it meant to be in debt and how to be more astute about money. “I was struck by the story of Sara and I kind of reflected to myself that I don’t want to be like Sara, who was drowning in debt. I felt that way because during that time, I realized I had lots of debts. I told myself after that day, that I will pay off my loans,” she says. “Today I am happy that I paid some of it and I can sleep soundly at night. Though I still have debt and borrowed money, I only borrow when really needed and I only take out a loan to use for business so I can earn more income.”

Mary Ann also learned to pay attention to cash flow, how to keep records, and to identify expenses that can be reduced. What she learned, she passed on to her husband and two children. “Every time I got home from the training, I would tell my husband and my kids what happened, what

Leading a warm up activity at a financial literacy session.

Mary Ann shows her cash flow record.

I learned and realized from the training. Then I was surprised one day when my husband gave me some money out of his savings,” she says.

Now that she’s repaid several loans and has a successful business, Mary Ann has become a financial literacy trainer in her own village, coaching women on budgeting. She has also become a village agent and sells solar lamps and fuel efficient stoves. “It greatly helped me to pay for the school fees of my college daughter. I also look at it as a business opportunity. So whenever I do the budgeting sessions, I bring with me sample products so I can present it to potential buyers,” she says.

For someone who only finished high school, the ability to become a trainer has enriched Mary Ann’s life, boosting her confidence and affording her the social status that comes with teaching. “I never had thought about being able to teach others… It’s great to see and hear other clients tell you how they appreciated the training sessions you conduct and that they have learned something from the training. And some of them call me Ma’am!”

Mary Ann shows us some of the products she sells.

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