STORIES BEHIND THE CART: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY ABOUT THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF STREET FOOD VENDORS

Abstract

This research used a phenomenological approach, particularly employing the descriptive method which focused on the views of the street food vendors on their daily life of selling. Their ideas, thoughts and opinion were described and analyzed in order to gather the perception of the participants about their lived experiences in selling on the street. The participants of this study were eight (9) street food vendors located at Barangay Tibungco with at least 2 years of experience in selling street foods. There were six participants for in-depth interview and three for the focus group discussion. Through series of in-depth interviews and focus group discussion, themes were identified. Findings revealed that the street vendor’s motivation to start a business because of their family and to have an extra income. It was revealed that the issues or challenges they encountered in starting the business are having no capital, demolition and weather condition. Street vendors also consider faith in God, self-help strategies, and loan as their coping strategy.