For the poor, saving money is an elusive dream. But Juvy Pentes, 43, from Barangay Pagsangahan, San Francisco in Quezon Province, has proven otherwise. Although she does not have a savings account in a bank, Juvy is thankful that she can now set aside some money from the family’s earnings.
Juvy’s success story provides a human face to DSWD’s Convergence Strategy that addresses poverty through the harmonized implementation of three of its major programs: KALAHI-CIDSS (Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services), the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Pantawid Pamilya) and the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP).
KALAHI-CIDSS provides funding for community-driven infrastructure projects such as school buildings, health centers, farm-to-market roads, foot bridges and water systems, among others. Pantawid Pamilya gives cash grants to poor families to ensure their education, health and nutritional needs. And the Sustainable Livelihood Program extends capital assistance and capability building to beneficiaries to start their own income-generating projects.
A beneficiary of all three programs, Juvy has become a poster girl for DSWD’s Convergence Strategy.
Juvy’s family became a beneficiary of Pantawid Pamilya in 2011, the same year that Barangay Pagsangahan, where she resides, was identified as a KALAHI-CIDSS community.
As a cash grantee of Pantawid Pamilya, Juvy receives P1,400 a month for her and three of her seven children who are within the infant-to-14 year old age range covered by the program.
“Before my family became a cash grantee, even when it was raining hard or scorching hot and I had to walk far to sell my produce, I was willing to endure the hardship just to save a little money to feed my seven children and give them allowance for school,” says Juvy. But her earnings from vending food and her husband’s meager pay as a construction worker were barely enough to provide for the needs of their seven children, let alone set aside some savings for the proverbial rainy day.
But when Pantawid Pamilya came to their village, Juvy says, “Little by little, our living conditions improved. My children now have allowance for school. They also have new uniforms and shoes. I can also buy vitamins for them. What’s more, I am able to save some money in my coin bank. “
There are 5,558 household beneficiaries in San Francisco, Quezon. Nationwide, Pantawid Pamilya has 3,037,665 cash grant-recipients as of August 29, 2012.
Community volunteer
The family lived in a small , cramped wooden shack that barely protected them from the elements. “Since I could not provide for the nutritional and health needs of my children before we became a cash grantee, they often got sick,” says Juvy.
She recalled an instance when one of her children had high fever and she had no money to bring her in for a check-up. But thanks to the assistance of her relatives, she was able to bring the child to a doctor.
That was, for Juvy, a turning point. She felt she had to do something to help her community ensure that no child would be put at risk like her daughter was. Hearing about KALAHI-CIDSS, she went to work helping her neighbors identify their priority needs for presentation to KALAHI-CIDSS for funding.
“We identified the construction of a health center as the most pressing need of our community,” Juvy says. KALAHI-CIDSS provided the P846,933 to fund its construction. Juvy helped prepare the project proposal and participated in the building of the health center. She is also a member of the team that maintains the operations and cleanliness of the center.
With the health center right in their community, Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries can now religiously comply with the health requirements of the program.
To date, 8,505 KALAHI-CIDSS community projects nationwide benefit close to two million households in 7,621 barangays.
Innovation
According to Social Welfare and Development Secretary Dinky Soliman, the Convergence Strategy is an innovation developed by DSWD for a more wholistic implementation of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program. Unlike CCT programs in other countries that merely provide cash grants, the Philippine CCT has a livelihood component and infrastructure support to complement the cash grants. This makes the program unique in the world.
“We realized that the conditional cash transfer program will be more effective if it is complemented with community development and sustainable livelihood for the beneficiaries,” says Secretary Soliman. “Our goal is to prepare the beneficiaries to achieve self-reliance even before their enrollment in Pantawid Pamilya ends after five years.”
Some 321,624 beneficiaries who were enrolled in Pantawid Pamilya in 2008 and are residents of KALAHI-CIDSS areas are now under the Convergence Strategy. They will graduate in 2013.
Capital assistance
Under SLP and as part of the Convergence Strategy, Juvy received P5,000 as capital assistance from the DSWD which she used to expand her food business.
“My food vending business expanded and earned bigger profits. I then started a hog raising business which has also done quite well.” Juvy happily recounts.
After a year, Juvy was able to build a concrete house. Her children are healthy and in school. As a result of her constant engagement with DSWD, she has learned several skills, and from an ordinary citizen, she is now actively involved in community affairs as a parent leader of Pantawid Pamilya, a KALAHI-CIDSS volunteer, and a barangay nutrition scholar.
“What more can I ask for?” Juvy smiles. “Maybe a bank account?”
With Juvy’s grit and determination to succeed, that is not a remote possibility. ###
