Based on interview from April 2017
Mila, 25, and Teresa, 22, are older sisters of Gia and Jenna. They earn substantial income working in an outdoor market selling hot dogs, juices, and other household items. She attended business training seminars with her sister and combined the money they saved to invest in inventory and kitchen supplies to open a spot at Angeles City’s Santa Tersata Market. She is one of eight siblings. Unlike their father, Gia and Jenna, both sisters managed to complete secondary education.
Mila currently resides with her family alongside her live-in partner who she met at a local canteen. As a child, Mila enjoyed going to school and playing with her siblings and friends. At 18 she began to enter the workforce. Her jobs ranged from working in fast-food restaurants and was one of the many women to work as a weaver in the furniture industry. Working as a weaver was difficult for Mila. She would often cut her hands while overlapping tree fibers while constructing top-grade rattan furniture ready for export to the US and other countries abroad. The hectic schedule spent enclosed in a make-due workshop in an area home, with little time allotted for social interaction made Mila’s former position at a fast-food restaurant seem more appealing…