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An OFW Journalism Consortium news flash exclusive

by JOVIC YEE

MANILA—MYRNA Padilla’s cheerful laughs during an event for the returning overseas Filipino workers does not show the impoverished life that she once had while growing up.

Padilla, who now owns Mynd Consulting, a business-process outsourcing firm in Davao City, is a classic example of how investments of hard work and determination pay dividends later on.

Speaking to a crowd of more than a hundred in a reintegration fair for returning overseas Filipino workers organized by the Blas F. Ople Policy Center, this founder of the Mindanao HK Workers Federation (Mindafed) tries to convince other OFWs that even a high school drop out like her can venture into business—and succeed.

“Every OFW dreams of having his own business in the country. To make this a reality, you have to develop your vision and ideas in line with your skills and passion, budget your time and money, and more important, increase your knowledge and skills. It is when you take all these factors together than you will achieve success,” Padilla told the OFW Journalism Consortium.

Myrna Padilla (second from left) receives an award for her business.

Now on its sixth year, Mynd Consulting employs the best and the brightest software developers in the country. The company’s mission is “to help stop the brain drain of our best and brightest people particularly in Mindanao,” according to its website.

Living in extreme poverty in the fifth-class municipality of Botoc, Loay, in Bohol, everyday was a challenge for Padilla, the eldest of six children, as she was growing up.

“I studied at my own expense. I went to school only four times a month and I did this during my day off. But I didn’t stop there. At home, whenever I’m free, I still studied,” related Padilla.

At eight years old, Padilla would go alone to the sea after school and dive deep to gather seaweeds, seashells and some fish to augment their budget for food.

“At the age of eight, this brave little dark skinned girl was diving in the deep sea without company… At the age of nine, she would debate with the wise men in the village,” the company website said.

Padilla finished only third year high school after deciding to become a domestic helper in 1988. For more than a decade, she worked in Singapore, Taiwan, and then in Hong Kong.

In 1999, her employer in Hong Kong had an eight-year-old child who was knowledgeable on computers.

Challenged by the fact that an eight-year old child was better than her, Padilla enrolled in a basic information technology course in a school catering to OFWs in Hong Kong.

A year later, her employer gave her a laptop and printer, but Padilla wanted more. She asked for an Internet connection.

“I had no idea what chatting was back then. I told my boss I wanted to gain more knowledge and increase my value as a domestic helper.”

During that time, Padilla was organizing Mindafed, a group seeking “to enrich the social, economic, cultural and political perspectives of OFW.”  It was in Mindafed that Padilla honed her skills in computer—or information technology—and over the next six years she studied and applied IT in her free time.

Myrna Padilla instructs one of her employees in Mynd Consulting office in Davao.

“I slowly began to grasp the concepts behind social computing, virtual offices, outsourcing, and software development. As an OFW, I saw the technology from a very different perspective than most,” Padilla said in her website.

She began networking with many people, spending hours on various topics on IT.

In the process, Padilla impressed a number of individuals in the IT industry with her honesty and integrity.

Between 2005 and 2006, however, Padilla was diagnosed in Hong Kong of having nodular thyroid problem. She chose to go back home and have her operation done in the Philippines.

After recovering from operation, Padilla began her company, Mynd Consulting, with the help of some of her friends that she met online and also her former employer.

Her dream of plugging brain drain in Mindanao is slowly coming true as she hire best workers for her company.

But her goal is far from complete as there are still a lot of OFWs that needed help and inspiration from a hard worker like Padilla.

“If you are empowered with technology, you can (earn like) an OFW without the need of leaving home.”