PS
Sep 24, 2001, 06:28 PM
TALES OF THE CITY
Blind masseurs take care
of La Salle community
Posted: 1:29 AM (Manila Time) | September 24, 2001
By Anne Luisa E. Villarico
Inquirer News Service
RODOLFO Sarmiento and his wife Grace look forward to going to school, but not to earn a degree or teach a course. They go to school to give students and faculty soothing massage.
The couple are among a group of barbers, hairdressers, masseurs and masseuses who have been tapped to staff the new De La Salle Wellness Center in the newly built Brother Celba John Hall on the Taft Avenue campus of De La Salle University.
:: advertisement ::
The Sarmientos, like the four other masseurs and five masseuses who work with them, are blind.
A brainchild of Brother Rolando Dizon, the wellness center first hired barbers to work for the La Salle brothers after Dizon discovered that most of them received measly benefits from their work.
Now, the Sarmientos have stable jobs that provide more substantial benefits than their previous jobs. They would serve about 11,000 customers, composed of athletes, students, faculty members, brothers, visitors and members of the La Sallian community.
They would be rendering their service along with Robert Almario, a barber, and Marina Angeles, a beautician.
Almario, one of the two barbers, hails from a depressed area in Bacolod City.
Angeles, a mother of five children, gives manicures, pedicures, haircuts and facial services.
To help people like them, Dizon launched the Caucus of Poverty Reduction (CPR) in 1999. CPR director Chris Delgado said the program aims to assist underprivileged sectors through entrepreneural and livelihood projects. One of their projects is the wellness center.
Dr. Osman Luis Ranid, director for Fostering Shared Commitments, handles the wellness center, which was officially launched last Aug. 13. Ranid assists the participants in developing their businesses.
In addition to the two barbers, CPR has added one masseur and one masseuse to work in shifts, and a hairdresser to cater to the average La Sallite’s grooming needs.
Mang Rudy is chair of the New Vision Multi-purpose Cooperative on Don Pedro Street in Singalong, Manila. It’s a non-government organization (NGO) founded in 1997 that employs the blind or the partially blind to serve the community, giving them a source of income despite their loss of sight.
Customers are largely professionals, such as doctors, and even politicians.
A masseur since 1998, Mang Rudy jumped at the chance to work on a vast campus. "It’s a great help for us to be given the opportunity to work at a school," he said.
The services are offered at cheaper rates than in regular salons because the school subsidizes the operation.
A haircut is 50 pesos for men and 70 pesos for women; facial, 200 pesos; hair dye, 250 pesos; manicure, 50 pesos; pedicure, 70 pesos.
For a stress-free rate of 250 pesos, one can lie down and treat himself to a pampering Swedish or shiatsu massage, or acupressure treatment.
Staff members are paid daily on a commission basis. The barbers who were trained in Herway at SM Megamall, and hairdressers will receive half of the total revenue.
The masseurs will take home 60 percent of the day’s earnings. The balance will be used for operations, expenses and maintenance of the facilities.
Ranid expects the idea to attract enough patrons from the community to give the barbers, hairdressers and masseurs a steady source of income.
Unfortunately, the wellness center in La Salle is not open to outsiders, Ranid said. Outsiders who want their nails done would have to find less academic surroundings to do this.
Buti naman at nakatulong din ang La Salle kahit konti. ;)
Blind masseurs take care
of La Salle community
Posted: 1:29 AM (Manila Time) | September 24, 2001
By Anne Luisa E. Villarico
Inquirer News Service
RODOLFO Sarmiento and his wife Grace look forward to going to school, but not to earn a degree or teach a course. They go to school to give students and faculty soothing massage.
The couple are among a group of barbers, hairdressers, masseurs and masseuses who have been tapped to staff the new De La Salle Wellness Center in the newly built Brother Celba John Hall on the Taft Avenue campus of De La Salle University.
:: advertisement ::
The Sarmientos, like the four other masseurs and five masseuses who work with them, are blind.
A brainchild of Brother Rolando Dizon, the wellness center first hired barbers to work for the La Salle brothers after Dizon discovered that most of them received measly benefits from their work.
Now, the Sarmientos have stable jobs that provide more substantial benefits than their previous jobs. They would serve about 11,000 customers, composed of athletes, students, faculty members, brothers, visitors and members of the La Sallian community.
They would be rendering their service along with Robert Almario, a barber, and Marina Angeles, a beautician.
Almario, one of the two barbers, hails from a depressed area in Bacolod City.
Angeles, a mother of five children, gives manicures, pedicures, haircuts and facial services.
To help people like them, Dizon launched the Caucus of Poverty Reduction (CPR) in 1999. CPR director Chris Delgado said the program aims to assist underprivileged sectors through entrepreneural and livelihood projects. One of their projects is the wellness center.
Dr. Osman Luis Ranid, director for Fostering Shared Commitments, handles the wellness center, which was officially launched last Aug. 13. Ranid assists the participants in developing their businesses.
In addition to the two barbers, CPR has added one masseur and one masseuse to work in shifts, and a hairdresser to cater to the average La Sallite’s grooming needs.
Mang Rudy is chair of the New Vision Multi-purpose Cooperative on Don Pedro Street in Singalong, Manila. It’s a non-government organization (NGO) founded in 1997 that employs the blind or the partially blind to serve the community, giving them a source of income despite their loss of sight.
Customers are largely professionals, such as doctors, and even politicians.
A masseur since 1998, Mang Rudy jumped at the chance to work on a vast campus. "It’s a great help for us to be given the opportunity to work at a school," he said.
The services are offered at cheaper rates than in regular salons because the school subsidizes the operation.
A haircut is 50 pesos for men and 70 pesos for women; facial, 200 pesos; hair dye, 250 pesos; manicure, 50 pesos; pedicure, 70 pesos.
For a stress-free rate of 250 pesos, one can lie down and treat himself to a pampering Swedish or shiatsu massage, or acupressure treatment.
Staff members are paid daily on a commission basis. The barbers who were trained in Herway at SM Megamall, and hairdressers will receive half of the total revenue.
The masseurs will take home 60 percent of the day’s earnings. The balance will be used for operations, expenses and maintenance of the facilities.
Ranid expects the idea to attract enough patrons from the community to give the barbers, hairdressers and masseurs a steady source of income.
Unfortunately, the wellness center in La Salle is not open to outsiders, Ranid said. Outsiders who want their nails done would have to find less academic surroundings to do this.
Buti naman at nakatulong din ang La Salle kahit konti. ;)