For Ma. Luz Necesario’s family, being able to eat three times a day is already an achievement.
Luz, 33, can still recall a time in their family’s life when they slept at night with empty stomachs.
Her husband Renie, a fisherman, does not always earn enough to even provide food on the table for their family of four.
“Nakikisakay lang po ng bangka ang asawa ko para makapangisda kaya maliit lang po ang kinikita niya. Kapag malakas ang alon o masama ang panahon, hindi siya nakakapunta sa laot kaya wala s’yang naiuuwi para sa aming pamilya ”, she shared.
As a housewife, Luz dreams for a change in their way of life. Thankfully, their family became a beneficiary of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, which, according to her, has slowly helped bring her closer to her dreams.
Saving for their own bangka
The Pantawid Pamilya is a project of the national government implemented through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) that provides conditional cash grants to qualified poor families in support of children’s health, nutrition, and education needs.
The Necesario family is one of the first families in Barangay Villa Reyes, San Narciso, Quezon to benefit from the said program in 2008.
With their savings, the family was able to buy a boat for Renie’s livelihood. He is now able to earn enough to provide for the needs of their family.
“Dahil po sa tulong ng programa, naibibigay na po namin ang mga pangangailangan ng mga bata. Malaki rin po ang naitulong sa pamilya namin na ‘yung kinikita ng asawa ko ay napupunta na sa pagpapalago ng aming kabuhayan ”, she shared.
Another DSWD program, the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), has also helped pave the way for Luz’s family to improve their lives.
Through this Project, a four-classroom high school building was constructed in Brgy. Villa Reyes, the village where Luz’s family lives. As a result, they were able to save more money, as they no longer have to spend a large sum for their eldest child to go to and from school.
In the past, Luz said that families used to spend a big amount of money to send their children to high school, which was at the town proper. With the construction of the high school building in their barangay, they are able to have savings for their other needs.
Tindahan for a more secure future
As a housewife and a mother, Luz herself wants to do more to help support their family so they can have improved lives, and not simply just have food on the table. As such, she grabbed the opportunity when she was told that she was qualified for inclusion in the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP). The SLP is another DSWD program that provides zero-interest capital assistance to qualified individuals or groups. It prioritizes Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries like Luz. The capital assistance is loaned to beneficiaries for their engagement in micro-enterprises.
Through the P10,000 loan from the SLP, Luz was able to start a small business vending fish and processed food such as tocino and longganisa.
Within a year’s time, she was able to pay back the loan without any difficulties.
While Luz said that the income she earned from the SLP was a big help in supporting her family, she claimed that this was not the biggest thing that she learned from the program, as her most important takeaway is the lessons she learned in taking better care of the household.
“Maliban sa puhunang pinahiram sa akin, malaki rin ang aking pasasalamat sa mga natutunan ko mula sa programa. Dito ko natutunan ang tamang paghawak ng pera para hindi malugi ang negosyo at ang tamang pag-bu-budget para sa aking pamilya para hindi na kami bumalik sa dati ”, she shared.
Change within
For Luz, it is not just the food on their table that will be the measure of their family’s success. As much as she is glad that her family can now have three meals a day – and even snacks in between – she is more grateful for the transformation that happened to them.
Luz has not yet stopped dreaming. She wishes her children to finish their college education, get a good job and start their own family they can fully provide for, and with the help of the DSWD, she knows she can reach her dreams.
These lessons from these programs showed Luz and her family that despite the circumstances they may initially find themselves in, they have the capacity to turn things around, as long as they have the vision and the will to effect that change.
“Kaya ko pala ang pagbabago dahil nagagawa ko na ang mga kailangan ng aking pamilya bumangon sa kahirapan ”, she happily concluded. ###
