The story of your broom
The story of your broom
WHEN he’s not in school, Marvin Huyohoy doesn’t simply hang out with friends or do nothing. He wants to earn money.
Since he attends night classes, the boy goes to a pond during the day to strike seawater-soaked buri or palm tree stems until the fibers come loose. At 13, Marvin is attending Grade 7 classes in Paknaan Elementary School.
Yesterday morning, he worked in a pond with three other boys
and a girl, their legs hidden by murky, foul-smelling water.
“Tambal ni sa tambay (This is the cure for having nothing to do),” he said.
Perhaps unknown to many patrons of Paknaan’s brooms, young boys and girls like Marvin have a hand in the barangay’s longstanding industry.
Elena Bolambao, 44, a broom supplier, said a few children in nearby neighborhoods come on their own to help in preparing buri fibers, the main material for the brooms.
Some of the children’s parents do the same work, but they handle better quality materials, she said.
The businesswoman said the children help out in the pond to earn money for school.
Not all of the young workers attend school, however.
John Ian Yagon, 15, quit Grade 2 and has been helping his father in the pond for about two years.
Asked why he stopped schooling, the boy answered with a shrug, “Mao lang.”
John struck buri stems with a piece of hard wood while his father carried fresh stems to the pond where these will be soaked for 26 to 30 days.
The school drop-out said he was used to the work, and that the heat of the sun no longer bothers him.
Broom-making has been the main source of income for John’s family and many others in Paknaan for decades.
The barangay has become synonymous with brooms that local officials launched the Silhig Festival a few years ago. Silhig is the Cebuano word for broom.
The festival is staged during the barangay’s fiesta every February.
Paknaan Barangay Captain Malaquias Soco earlier said a large chunk of their population is engaged in broom-making. Under his leadership, broom makers formed a cooperative, which enabled them to avail themselves of grants and other benefits from National Government agencies.
While some children offer their energy to prepare buri fibers, Bolambao said they are not duty-bound to come to the pond.
“Muari lang na sila kung kanus-a nila gusto (They come here whenever they want),” she said.
For every bundle of fiber, the children are paid P5 to P8.
The price of brooms from Paknaan range from P12 to P15 each, but they are sold at a higher price by retailers.
Bolambao expressed frustration that many people haggle with street vendors selling brooms, saying the process of making a broom is not easy and takes weeks.
Still, she said the industry has helped several families to make ends meet.
As for Marvin, working in the pond is a way for him to continue his studies. His father works as a garbage collector while his mother is a homemaker.
His father’s income is barely enough to support his shooling and that of his two siblings.
In school, he told his teacher he wanted to be a policeman. But in truth, he said, he wants to be a plumber.