PERSEVERANCE and never giving up are the ideals that continually motivate 32-year-old Merchandiz Caña to overcome the challenges that she and her family face.

Merchandiz, of Barangay Poblacion, Barbaza, Antique, recalled how difficult life was with four growing children to tend to and no stable income to speak of. Her husband Rene works part time as fisherman in their barangay. What meagre income he gained however, was lost in his vices, among which was playing mah-jong. Merchandiz said her husband’s vices became a source of distress to her and her children because “there were times when the pastime had become an addiction.”

Having acquired a skill on body massage, Merchandiz helped put food on the family’s table from her earnings.

In 2008, their family became a recipient of the national government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. The program provides cash grants to poor households with children aged 14 years old and below. A household with three qualified children are eligible to receive P1,400 per month provided that they comply the conditions on health and education.

“Pantawid Pamilya has helped us a lot, especially in my children’s education. It helped us realize and value our responsibilities to our children. It also opened doors of opportunities to people like me who long wanted to start a business but do not have the capital to start with,” Merchandiz said in the vernacular.

Merchandiz is one of the Pantawid Pamilya grantees in Barbaza who availed of a seed capital to start a small-scale business through the Self-employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Together with 24 other Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries in their barangay, the group bonded themselves under the Barbaza Progressive Leaders SEA-K Association (BPL-SKA).

With Barangay Poblacion being a coastal community, Merchandiz used her P10,000 capital from SEA-K to venture into buying and selling dried fishes, and selling of food supplements.

The start of her business fuelled the change in the attitude and priorities of her husband. Merchandiz said her husband turned his back from his vices and has devoted his time in helping her run and manage their business.

Today, Merchandiz is happy to share that the family’s business is doing well, giving them an average earnings of P9,000 a month. She added that she was even able to open a bank savings account with P4,000 in it now.

“A lot of good things are happening in our family. We are able to send our children to school regularly…  we can now eat rice thrice a day… there is harmony in our home. And I often find myself invited to share my success story,” Merchandiz said with a smile.

Recently, Merchandiz was chosen to share the “Dos and Don’ts of Running a Business” during the Community-driven Enterprise Development (CDED) Training by the DSWD.

“There are a lot of lessons to be learned to be successful. First is to persevere and never give up no matter how hard the situation may seem. Second is to be patient in all the things that we do, be it big or small. Third, is to have self-confidence and the mastery of proper planning,” she shared. “But most importantly, have faith in God,” she added.

The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and SEA-K are just two of the social protection programs of DSWD under its convergence strategy. The convergence strategy aims to maximize the results of programs and projects more than what each project can achieve alone.

With the strategy, beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilya are prioritized for Kalahi-CIDSS coverage and to avail of gainful employment and sustainable livelihood, in which the SEA-K program belongs. (DSWD6/ Dante Mijares, Project Development Officer II)