Today meet Nelly, one of our fantastic Diamond Team leaders. Nelly is from the Philippines. Her father is a farmer and mother a social worker. They grow their own fruit and vegetables such as bananas, sweet potatoes and casava. Her father also has a coconut farm with his siblings and they sell the produce on the market. 


“I joined Uplifters’ course in January 2019. I had been working in Singapore for 6 years and I had nothing to show for it. I felt I really needed to learn how to save money. I used to send all my money back to my parents and siblings whenever they needed it.

When I started Uplifters’ course I felt very shy, I almost thought of quitting because I wasn’t very comfortable at first. My shyness was holding me back. But I chose to stay and keep on learning and it’s changed my life. 

My sister with my motorbike

When doing Uplifters’ course I started applying the lessons to my own life. I’ve since been able to start building a family house which will have 4 rooms when finished. I’m building it slowly as I also still have to pay for my son’s school. I’ve also bought a motorcycle that my sister is currently using. It was my dream to have one and it’s changed our lives as we live in a remote place. It takes an hour to walk to the nearest town. The motorbike costs Php.75,000 and I’m paying it in instalments over 12 months. It’s a nice feeling to see the results of my hard work, it seems like I’ve finally won!

Reading one of her poems in front of an audience

What I love about Uplifters’ education is that it’s not only about budgeting and money management but also about personal growth. This is so important as it teaches you how to adapt to people around you and inspire others on the way. It also helped me improve my communications skills and taught me how to speak to others confidently. I learnt much more than I expected.

Becoming a Team Leader has also enabled me to share my experience with other domestic workers. It’s not always easy to manage our students, especially those who feel shy or not comfortable with it. I try to deal with those situations by sharing my experience and also saying that I’m just one of them, we are here as one TEAM. My happiest moments as a Team Leader have been watching them get motivated and grow in confidence. 

My goal now is to stay focused and pursue my dreams. I am very thankful; I don’t have a weekly day off and Uplifters was my only chance to study. It really changed my life.” 

Thank you so much Nelly! 

Nelly is one of our Diamond team leaders who’s facilitated 10 sessions of “Dare to Dream”, Uplifters 3-week signature online course on money management and personal growth.

To sign up to Uplifters’ Dare to Dream course, like our Facebook page and click ‘Send Message’. 

The most efficient way to support our work is to become a monthly donor, with only USD 10 (HKD 80) a month, you sponsor 1 hour of online money management and personal development course for a woman like Nelly: donate.