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Filipino Bracelet by Agustina

Bracelet
Agustina

$6.50
9 cm

All of these bracelets are made from recycled paper.

Each sheet of paper - be it a magazine, a poster, or even a cigarette paper - is cut into long triangular strips.  Each triangle is then rolled into a tight ball to make the shape of the bead.  The bead is then dipped into varnish to give its hardness.

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Meet Agustina - the crafter of the Bracelet

Agustina

Agustina RosaAgustina lives in a modest house with her two children, Jhon Ruel and Alijah Jane.  Her house is situated right next to the beach.

Agustina has been married to Dindo Rosa for six years.  Due to the lack of jobs in Sugod, Dindo has moved to Manila to earn money for his family.  He has worked as a factory worker in Cavite and is currently a salesman in a market.  He has been working outside of Sugod for about two years and visits his family every three months or so.

Agustina earns money for her family by making mats.  She makes about fifteen a month.  It takes her about eight hours to make the mats and she sells to her father-in-law for twenty pesos each.  He then on sells them in Manila.

Agustina also tends a vegetable garden.  The garden is located in the mountains and is about 20 minute walk away.  She grows cassava, eggplant, squash, and corn.  She sells some of the vegetables and eats the rest.

When Typhoon Frank came, Agustina was alone with her children.  Frank ripped the roof off her house.  She says that she prayed to the Lord for help.   She is grateful that He provided protection for her and her family.  Typhoon Frank also destroyed her vegetable garden.  Agustina was fortunate enough to have some rice stored that that her family ate in the days following Frank.  She also received an aid package which contained two kilos of rice, two cans of sardines, two bags of noodles, coffee and sugar.

Alijah JaneAgustina says that when she was growing up her family was very poor.  Her mother and father did their best to support their eight children, but times were always hard.  Her father worked as a rice farmer and her mother as a housewife.  They had no income and ate mostly rice.  Two of her siblings started college, but could not finish due to lack of funds.  Agustina herself worked in a garment and electronic factory for two years in Cavite.

Agustina's greatest wish is for good health for her family.

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