Money from the black coal thing!

How would you describe charcoal? The first thing that would probably enter your mind would be that it is black and it is dirty. Literally it is, but if we dig deeper and realize its importance to those who earn something from it, maybe it is not just black and dirty after all.

"Mayng hapon. Mangutana unta ko kinsa ang tag iya ani nga ulingan?" I asked a girl about a year or two years younger than I am surrounded by charcoal. "Kanang naa sulod sa tindahan,"she answered. I thanked her with a smile and moved towards the man inside the sari-sari store.

I asked him the same question I asked the girl, and he answered me with a nod while he was busy making coffee. He handed it to the man outside the store who was one of his workers, and I realized that it was their time for a little break and so I waited patiently watching him provide his employees with what they need.

After a few minutes, he went outside, asked me to sit down on a bench and there I came to know Manong Rodolfo Gilluano.

Manong Rodolfo is married and has six children, four of them finished college and his youngest is currently taking nursing, he is already 58 years old and he had been into the charcoal business since he was a child but started to have his very own on the year 1978.

"Maglukdo ko sauna dayon magsuroy-suroy, ang papa sa akong misis uling man sad ang negosyo," shared Manong Rodolfo. (I would carry the charcoal over my head and vend it around, the father of my wife is in the same business.)

When I asked him what was good about charcoal business, he answered "Dili mabaho, dili kan-on sa anay unya bisan pila ka tuig dili maunsa" Much more, when charcoal gets wet, it can just be dried up again and then sell it as if it never got wet. Aside from these, he was able to provide his family and his relatives as well.

In one day, he gets about P2, 000.00 and almost P30,000.00 in one month.

"Kinahanglan magtigom jud ta, dili ta magpasagad ug gasto," said Manong Rodolfo and I strongly agree. I myself sometimes think I don't have enough money because I spend more than how much I am provided. Thanks to him for reminding me.

So how would you describe charcoal this time? I say it is more than just black and dirty. It is more than what we think it is.