A former vegetable vendor and water buffalo shepherd is now a perfume and jewelry shop owner in Riyadh. Nancy Vitales designs one of a kind jewelry products and sells perfumes made in Paris. “These are products of White Crystal. We have 44 signature brands of perfumes,” she said. “We're proud to say that everything here is made in Paris.” Original perfumes are expensive but Vitales made them available to Filipinos at an affordable price. “We thought of repacking the perfumes into small sizes so that everyone can afford,” she said. At a young age, Vitales realized the value of hard work to be able to put food on the table. She took care of a water buffalo and sold vegetables like ‘sitaw'. “When I was young, we used to harvest vegetables in our backyard. Together with my grandmother and mother, we would go to the market and sell them,” said Vitales. Vitales said the values she learned in the past helped her achieve the success she's enjoying right now. “I wish children would value money. If you give them 100 pesos, instead of thinking what they would buy with the money, they should think of how to augment it. This is the Chinese way,” she said. Ambassador Ezzedin Tago was all praises for Vitales who found innovative ways to succeed. She also was able to use her savings wisely by investing in a worthwhile business. She also shared her ideas with other Overseas Filipino Workers who may want to enter the same business. “We do encourage this. The first thing is for everyone to know what the rules are and to work on saving more and also getting into new creative ideas,” said Tago. Tago said the embassy supports businesses run by Filipinos, which is why they are doing everything they can to protect it. “Businessmen want their investments to be protected. So what we are working on right now is to compile the database of the laws in the Philippines and Saudi so that people will know their rights when it comes to getting into business whether here in Saudi or in the Philippines,” he said. __
