Last night, I was reading one of the books written by Bo Sanchez. He is one of my favorite authors because his writings are very inspiring and uplifting. The title of the book is 40 Stories of Passion – Learn from 40 ordinary people on how to make your life extraordinarily beautiful.
One of the stories that I really like in that book is about the life of Lola Nieves Verneza. She was interviewed by Bo Sanchez, and she was 81 year old at the time of interview. Let me share the things they talked about.
Bo: Nanay, tell be a bit of your roots
Nanay: I came, from a poor family in San Pedro, Laguna.
Bo: Did you always have this entrepreneurial blood in you?
Nanay: Yes! At the age of 15, I was already selling. It was the year 1943, during World War II. I sold “contraband” items that the Japanese soldiers confiscated for their use such as rice and chicken. So in deep baskets, I put the rice and the chicken under my patola and sitaw. I carried these baskets by foot, by calesa, by train and by banca to Manila. It was very difficult and dangerous. But that was the only way we could survive.
Bo: Weren’t you afraid?
Nanay: I was. Those were scary times. I had to intentionally look ugly so that the Japanese soldiers won’t pick on me. If you were pretty, you’d get confiscated too!
Bo: When did you get married?
Nanay: When I was 18 years old, I met Censio in one of my banca rides to Manila. After to talking to my parents, we got married very soon after.
Bo: What was Censio’s livelihood?
Nanay: He was a poor farmer and a fisherman. But even after the war, I continued to sell whatever I could find that I could make a profit on.
Bo: And you lived a simple life so that you could save…
Nanay: Yes. We saved every centavo. If my children asked for 90 centavos to buy something for school (and I gave them one peso), when they returned, I asked for the 10 centavo change.
Bo: What happened next?
Nanay: When we saved enough money for a down payment, we bought a jeepney. Censio learned how to drive and decided, with complete trust for better opportunity, to relocate the whole family to Paco, Manila. By grace or chance, he got an offer as a driver from the nearby school to be their official “school bus driver.” Meanwhile, I opened a tiny store in Paco Market to sell clothes. It was really a four-foot table and nothing much. But every day, I’d wake up early in the morning to work, saving for our children’s future.
Bo: And then what happened?
Nanay: Through our savings, Censio was able to buy a second-hand bus to meet the demand of more students being served. And then we bought a property loan. The owner of the land was a friend and she agreed on a pay-when-able scheme. Through our savings everyday, we paid it in two years. After that, we build apartments. To save money, my husband learned how to be an architect, engineer, contractor and foreman – even if he only finished Grade 6. And so for another two years, we built 70 apartments…
Bo: Seventy: Did you say 70 apartments?
Nanay: Yes, 70, very simple and small apartments.
Bo: How did you do it?
Nanay: Censio would borrow from the hardware construction material. We built one apartment and rented it out right away. We asked for a two- or three-month deposit from the tenant. We used that money to start building another apartment unit. We didn’t stop until we reached that many apartments.
Bo: I still can’t believe you built that many apartments! Wow! Weren’t your neighbors shocked?
Nanay: They were. They thought we got money from rich relatives. They didn’t know that through all those years, we were saving money – little by little.
Bo: Thank you for your inspiring story. At 81, now that Censio has passed away, you give most of your time to your service to God. Any last words?
Nanay: Live a simply lifestyle. . Eat vegetables and fish. Avoid stress. Don’t have too much worries. Pray. At magtipid. Mag-ipon. At lahat ng kita, itago. Ilagay sa negosyo o sa paupahan. (Be frugal. Save. Keep all your income. Put it in business or lend it to someone.)
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This interview was taken from the book 40 Stories of Passion. To learn more of his inspiring books and magazines, log onto Bo Sanchez website, www.bosanchez.ph or you can email at bosanchez@kerygmafamily.com
