Maylene Maylas has been working in Singapore for the past seven years. She is from Surallah, South Cotabato, Mindanao in the Philippines. She has three beautiful girls, aged 14, 12 and 10. She likes cooking Filipino food and is learning to cook Singaporean food as well. In her spare time, she loves to read and write poems. Here’s an excerpt of our interview.
Q. Why did you join Uplifters?
A. I joined Uplifters because I wanted to learn how to budget my income so that I can prepare for my children’s future. My family is my priceless treasure.
Q. How did Uplifters help you?
A. Uplifters motivated me to achieve my goals and dreams. Since I started working abroad, I have now purchased three properties, a tricycle, cows and thirty coconut trees. I am now saving for my house project. Uplifters has also been a good influence to one of my friends whom I have encouraged to enrol. Before Uplifters, she was in debt but now she has learned the value of saving and paying one’s debt on time. I’m happy to learn that she will start saving once she clears her debt.
Q. What is your advice to migrant domestic workers?
A. My advice to my fellow migrant workers is to focus on one project at a time. Think carefully before starting any project and as much as possible, do not take out any loans. It is better to have savings rather than using credit to buy. For those who have children, we do not need to spoil them with unnecessary things so they can also learn the value of money.
Thank you, Maylene for sharing your story with us and for your commitment to our Uplifters Community. Maylene is one of our Diamond Team Leaders and she has already supported fellow domestic workers through more than 14 sessions of “Dare to Dream”, our 3-week free online course on money management and personal growth.
