From market stall to cyberspace

A woman’s journey from crisis to opportunities in the digital world

In the Chinese language, the word for “crisis” is also interpreted by others as “opportunity” – reflecting the reality that sometimes, it takes a tragedy to see things more clearly. This is evidently the story of Veronica Panganiban, a 39-yearold single mother of two, when her stall in a public market in Taytay, Rizal went up in flames. She eventually realized that it took that “fiery” crisis to open her eyes to new opportunities in life.

“I invested almost all of my money in that stall. It was all that I have,” said Panganiban as she recalled the shock and disbelief upon learning that a fire engulfed the market in the early hours of May 21 last year. “I had that stall for 17 years – running it was all I knew!”

Seeing her investments turn into ashes, it made her realize that she needed to be brave amid the crisis for her family especially her kids.

“I can’t be weak. I need to buy food, pay bills and provide school allowance. I need something to start again,” she said.

By “something,” Panganiban shared that opening a new stall at that time wasn’t an option as it will require fresh capital; but what she needed was to learn a new skill in order to find gainful employment.

She found out from friends that there was a scholarship funded by the J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation as part of a program promoting Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), led by the International Labour Organization (ILO). This program trains and prepares women to enter the STEM workforce in the booming digital commerce and animation industry.

“To be honest, I don’t know anything about computers. So it was really a challenge for me at first. I was afraid that I will be laughed at or be rejected by the scholarship program,” she revealed.

“But I gathered enough strength and thought to myself that women should not give up easily. Even if it is an entirely new field, I dared myself.”

After passing an interview and an exam (which she thought she failed), she was selected to join a bootcamp training on digital commerce.

Panganiban joined 25 other women who completed the bootcamp training in November 2018. Initially, it seemed hard but with an open mind and a passion to learn, she found out that there is nothing to fear and that age – as cliché as it may sound – is not a hindrance to learn new things.

Through various modules, the group first learned about computers and social media, eventually it progressed to more complex topics such as animation and graphic design. After a few weeks, Panganiban passed the bootcamp and she is now a certified techie.

“Look at me now! A year ago, I don’t even know how to program on a computer. Now, I can do social media marketing, design websites and animate logos. I can even do online presentations and enhance images,” she proudly said.

In no time, Panganiban was able to start a freelancing career designing websites and do graphic design for small companies. Eventually, she started a cooperative of freelancers with her fellow graduates enabling them to gather resources and help one another find gainful employment or projects. With the income she generated, she rebuilt her stall in Taytay market early this year.

She is all smiles as she said that if not for the opportunities in the digital industry, she would find it very hard to find a sustainable source of income and capital.

“In fact, I now use social media to promote my new stall,” she said. “I never realized that a tragedy can become an opportunity to learn. Now, I’m ready for the future.”

I never realized that a tragedy can become an opportunity to learn. Now, I’m not afraid as I’m ready for the future — Veronica Panganiban