By Sr. Mary Guadalupe Bautista, Province of the Philippines and Japan

“We are children of miracles!” St. Mary Euphrasia

Mountain Maid Training and Development Foundation in Baguio City, the Philippines, is a social enterprise in food processing that trains and supports students and workers. One of its outreach programs is working with farmers and suppliers, particularly producers of purple yam or ube.

In 2006 groups of farmers growing ube organized themselves into associations. Today, there are 38 active associations with a total membership of 500 farmers. These farmers plant ube, tend the vines, harvest the ube tubers, and deliver the ube to the training center, which produces the famous ube jam.  On average, every month 20 tons or 20,000 kilos of the root crop is delivered to the center.

This relationship benefits both parties as the farmers are paid in cash at fair trade prices and the training center is assured of the raw material necessary to produce the ube jam. The  ube  farmers in the  spirit of  Laudato Si’s  care for our  common home,  do not use harmful  chemical  insecticides and  fertilizers.  The fertility of  the soil  is  preserved,  beneficial  insects   and butterflies  flourish.”

With half of sales, the rich, thick ube jam is our bestselling product. The revenue from which supports young people from indigenous communities to attend school and farmers to put food on the table. Being able to send their children to school, living in decent homes enable them to break the cycle of poverty and live in dignity.

As the summer capital of the Philippines, 4000 feet above sea level, tourists and visitors who come to Baguio City to enjoy the cool weather seldom leave the city without visiting our premises to buy ube jam.

In fact, due to such high demand each customer can buy only two bottles of ube jam, with one customer remarking: “What a good problem to have!”

The food processing social enterprise supports and sustains the mission throughout the Philippines as we share our blessings with other Good Shepherd apostolates in the country.