Little woodshop, big heart: Furniture maker finds his calling with help from NGO

As a kid, he liked drawing robots. He’d draw shapes, screws and car parts, assemble them together into invincible shiny droids. At night, Jimmy imagined these robots coming to life and knocking on the door of their small house in Bulacan. Like most kids, Jimmy dreamed a lot.

“Bata pa lang ako mahilig na ako mag-sketch. Dream ko po talaga noon maging architect,” Jimmy Gelbolingo, 39, said.

But Jimmy’s parents couldn’t afford to send him to college. At sixteen, with a high school diploma, Jimmy became a young father. He started looking for work to support his family.

Most of his jobs made use of his steady and creative hands: doing lettering for signboards and placards, silkscreen for posters, masonry for buildings, then carpentry under subcontractors. He kept on observing the senior carpenters until he felt confident enough to do solo carpentry jobs himself.

But though there were jobs, it was not stable enough to take care of his family.

“Kinabukasan ano kayang trabaho ko? Kumbaga wala akong permanente na trabaho na focus ka na, wala kang iisipin or ikakabahala,” Jimmy said about living hand to mouth.

Things began to change when he met Tracey Heppner, a Canadian missionary and photographer living in the Philippines. Tracey needed a work desk made; her househelp suggested Jimmy.

Impressed by Jimmy’s polished work and positive attitude, Tracy, who by then was thinking of putting up a livelihood NGO that would empower Filipinos through arts and crafts, offered him a partnership: Tracey would get the clients, and Jimmy would create the custom-made furniture.

"There are so many Filipinos who are not able to make a sustainable livelihood. And I thought about it for a while: there’s got to be something we can do to bridge the gap between the rich and poor because Filipinos are so creative," Tracey said.

"So many Filipinos know how to do something with their hands and if they can always take their livelihood with them, then they can own homes, send their kids to school."

Tracey put up a Facebook page for her organization, Magtayo ng Buhay. Through her contacts in the expat community and joining furniture groups on the social networking site, she soon had a steady stream of clients.

Some of their most memorable output include a rustic kitchen island, a shoe cabinet with a matted wash, a dollhouse for a kid’s playroom, and a sturdy conference table with open shelves at the bottom. Around the time of this interview, Tracey and Jimmy were excited about a new client—a high-end kids' furniture shop that ordered a set of tables, stools and cabinets for a mini-library.

“The plan is for Jimmy and his wife to learn to run the business by themselves. Also, to have a client who will consistently order from us, someone who resells or has a store. I won’t be here permanently. I want to help people have sustainable businesses,” Tracey said.

With a tight deadline, Jimmy had been doing everything by hand, from cutting to sanding to painting. The stools were painted teal and pink and had brown feet.  He was far from done, he said. But help would come the next day: a fellow carpenter to assemble the parts and do the finishing. Jimmy hopes more work will com in so that he could train other people in the work.

“Sana kung loloobin, matuloy yung shop, makatulong din ako sa iba,” he said.

Despite the heat and dust, Jimmy was working—and fulfilled.

“Kasi mas masaya eh, habang nagtatrabaho ako, masaya ako, iba ang feelings eh. Kumbaga yung nakikita mong buo, natutuwa yung may-ari, napakasaya, napakasarap sa pakiramdam,” he said, his eyes sparkling.

Today, Jimmy enjoys a steady and higher income doing what he does best, creating things with his hands—and feeling the pride that comes with work. — BM, GMA News