From Employees to Employers: Free Trainings from PH Embassy in London, POLO-OWWA Inspire OFWs to Start New Businesses

Jessiebel Legaspi, a housekeeper, proudly presents a dress she made during the free dressmaking course offered by the Philippine Embassy in London and POLO-OWWA. (Stacy Danika Garcia photo)

LONDON 26 June 2018 – The Philippine Embassy in London, together with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office-Overseas Worker Welfare Administration (POLO-OWWA), offered a series of free skills training for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) at the Migrant Workers’ Day celebration in London on 24 June 2018.

Consul General Senen T. Mangalile urged the OFWs who participated in the training to continuously improve themselves through education and to aspire to become future employers.

“We owe it to you that people who know you believe that we, Filipinos in the United Kingdom, are a positive contribution to the fabric of society and to the local community. We owe it to you that these people like to visit the Philippines because they know you, they’ve worked with you, and they are seeing the positive side of the Philippines through you,” said Consul General Mangalile in a speech delivered during the program. 

The participants of the different programs offered by the Embassy and POLO-OWWA showcased their finished products at Baden-Powell House.

“Ine-encourage ko po ang mga kagaya ko pong OFW. Alam kong iba-iba tayo ng skill.  May mahusay po sa dress making, bakit po hindi magsimula na magtahi? Marami po tayong pwedeng mapagsimulan. Ako po’y nakapagsimula na.  Kayo naman po, ano kaya ang inyong ipoproduce naman? Sana po gamitin nating ang mga talent na meron tayo na ma-enhance sa pamamagitan ng mgs libreng taining,” said Precil Morada, a housekeeper who participated in the meat curing and processing course. She currently runs a small but successful longganisa business.

Morada taught for 17 years in the Philippines before she moved the United Kingdom to work as a housekeeper. 

Since 2010, the Embassy and POLO-OWWA have been offering free courses that run from as one to six months. Since the program was launched, the available courses have expanded from basic computer literacy to soap, fruit, and vegetable carving, jewelry making, meat curing and processing, baking, ice cream making, bar tending, basic massage, manicure and pedicure application, catering services, skin care and makeup application, flower arrangement, dressmaking, and hair dressing. 

The program aims to equip OFWs with new skills that they can use to start a business and to provide job opportunities in the future. END

Participants of the free baking and pastry making class present a variety of delectable desserts during the celebration of Migrant Workers’ Day in London on 24 June 2018. (Stacy Danika Garcia photo)

Participants of the jewelry making class showcase their designs during the Migrant Workers’ Day celebration in London on 24 June 2018. (Stacy Danika Garcia photo)

For more information, visit www.londonpe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/pg/PHLinUK and @philippinesinuk on Twitter.