{"id":38516,"date":"2016-10-06T14:47:54","date_gmt":"2016-10-06T14:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/?p=38516"},"modified":"2024-07-28T13:39:41","modified_gmt":"2024-07-28T03:39:41","slug":"owwa-water-refilling-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/38516-owwa-water-refilling-business.html","title":{"rendered":"How OWWA Reintegration Program Helped Ex-Saudi OFW Launch Water Refilling Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shui King. No, it\u2019s not a spin-off for a local fast-food chain but it\u2019s the former name of Mr. Jackaria Omar\u2019s Water Refilling Station in Manila. According to him, \u201cshui\u201d in Chinese means water, therefore, making it a perfect pre-fix for the business he put up in 2006 along with his wife, Myrna.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2010, Mr. Omar\u2019s daughter, Jamira, a registered nurse at the age of 23, flew to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to work for a government hospital. She worked abroad for five years in the Eastern region of KSA and after 5 years decided to go back to her native land due to the increasing atrocities in the said region. During her stay in KSA, her father advised her on putting up a business of her own when she returns to the country. Heeding her father\u2019s advice, Jamira banked on her family\u2019s already established business \u2013 a water refilling station. Upon returning to the country, Jamira together with her father immediately attended Overseas Worker\u2019s Welfare Administration\u2019s (OWWA) orientation on the 2B Reintegration Loan Program.<\/p>\n

Leaning on OWWA<\/h2>\n

Forming part of OWWA\u2019s Reintegration Program, the 2 Billion-Peso Reintegration Fund for enterprise development is a loan facility in cooperation with the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines, where an OWWA member or their legal dependent can avail of P300,000 to Php 2 million for their chosen enterprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cNung na-release na yung funds, una muna naming itinayo yung building para sa business,\u201d Mr. Omar recounts. In 2011, the establishment was built just beside their residence at Brgy Cabaluay fronting the highway \u2013 providing the best exposure for their business which was now named Water Market, a franchise Mr. Omar brought from Manila. He currently manages their Zamboanga branch as his daughter stays in Manila after her stint in KSA.<\/p>\n

\u201cSinabi ko sa anak ko na mag-stay muna siya sa Manila. Mag relax-relax muna siya kasi matagal din siya namalagi doon sa Saudi para magtrabaho. At least ngayon, naipundar na namin ang negosyo niya. Sa 2017, mababayaran na namin ng buo ang loan namin sa Landbank,\u201d says Mr. Omar proudly.<\/p>\n

Addressing Problems<\/h2>\n

However, Mr. Omar admits that business wasn\u2019t always going well. In 2013, their enterprise experienced a lull in profit brought about by stiff competition, water rationing, and constant power outages in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cNung time na yon, lahat ng expenses ng Zamboanga branch shouldered ng Manila branch namin. Tamang tama lang para sa water and electric bills yung kinikita ng branch namin dito,\u201d Mr. Omar confesses. But they never lost hope and continued with their day-today operations thinking of better strategies to address the problems they encountered.<\/p>\n

\u201cBumili ako ng additional water tank at sinasabihan namin ang mga customers namin na iwan yung mga containers around 6pm at kunin nila sa umaga kasi sa gabi lang may supply ng tubig,\u201d says Mr. Omar.<\/p>\n

\"water-refilling-business-zamboanga\"
\nPhoto: OWWA<\/p>\n

Better and Brighter Future<\/h2>\n

As of now, Omar\u2019s Water Market Refilling Station serves customers from Teacher\u2019s village, Brgy Cabaluay and nearby barangays as it opens at 7 am. In the future, Mr. Omar and his daughter plans to set up another branch if given the chance to apply for a re-loan.<\/p>\n

\u201cNagpapasalamat kame sa OWWA na natulungan nila kame ipatayo itong negosyo. Ang advice ko sa mga gustong umasenso din, magplano sila, mag-attend sila ng entrepreneurship training na binibigay ng OWWA at kung maaari, sana yung pwesto kung saan nila ipapatayo yung negosyo ay sa kanila mismo para yung kita, hindi na mapunta sa renta o bayad sa upa,\u201d Omar added.<\/p>\n

Jamira Omar, is just one of the many successful recipients of the 2B reintegration program. For more details on OWWA\u2019s programs and services, visit our office at 3rd Floor Goodwill Center, Mayor Jaldon St., Canelar, Zamboanga City or contact us at (062) 991-2785.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shui King. No, it\u2019s not a spin-off for a local fast-food chain but it\u2019s the former name of Mr. Jackaria Omar\u2019s Water Refilling Station in Manila. According to him, \u201cshui\u201d in Chinese means water, therefore, making it a perfect pre-fix for the business he put up in 2006 along with his wife, Myrna. Fast forward […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[132],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-38516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ofw-family"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38516"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46868,"href":"https:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38516\/revisions\/46868"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}