Antique — His passion for social work was ignited from organizing different outreach programs in the community when he was a student leader during his college years. This is how Carl Myson Dulla recalls why he loved social work. From there, he applied and became a part of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program as a Social Welfare Assistant (SWA) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assigned in Tibiao, Antique.

At first, he was hesitant to accept the job because his area is very far from home. He has to travel for seven hours since he is residing in Guimaras Island.

“My background in leadership and experience as a servant leader during college became a deciding factor for me to work in the department,” he said in an interview.

For the first three months, Carl got acquainted with many program partners and had established rapport with Pantawid beneficiaries. It was a phase of learning new things and exploring the rich tradition and culture of the Antiquenos.

BAPTISM OF FIRE

According to Carl, his dedication for public service was tested when his area was greatly devastated by Typhoon Yolanda almost four years ago. He and some of his co-workers had experienced a lot of difficulties before, during and after the calamity. Carl said they were not allowed to go home because as DSWD staff they should render service during calamities.

“I witnessed for the first time how a typhoon can destroy properties, lives and dreams of people within a few hours. It was a life changing experience for me. There was no electricity for more than a month,” he narrated.

Carl also said that supply of water was a big challenge for them, too. He and other co-workers stayed at the calamity center for three months because their boarding houses were wrecked by the strong winds during the said typhoon.

Despite the inconvenience, Carl had no choice but to compassionately continue with their work and spend a lot of time going to villages to assess the range of damages. They were also tasked to deliver relief goods to the evacuation centers and check the status of their Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries.

Carl stressed that after that, the thought of quitting dawned on him. However, he chose to continue because of unexplainable feeling every time he helped and empowered someone who is in vulnerable, hopeless, helpless and disadvantaged situation.

PROMOTION

Added to this, he also got a chance to showcase his skills and talent when his team tasked him to package a scrapbook and train a nominee for the first Provincial Search for Exemplary Child in August 2014 at the Saint Anthony’s College, San Jose, Antique.

Winning in the Best Scrapbook completion and their nominee landing in second place has inspired Carl to do his best for the next competition. Carl has served the Municipality of Tibiao for a year and six months. It was in December 2014 when he was one of the 52 Social Welfare Assistants (SWA) who was identified to go through a promotional exam for the position of Municipal Link (ML).

“I don’t know how I did it but I was surprised to know that I topped the exam. All I did was to answer all the questions based on my stored knowledge of the program and relate it to my experiences. I know it was a sign that I was more than ready to take the job of being an ML,” he said.

Carl got promoted as ML on March 2, 2015. As an ML, Carl has a lot of deliverables to accomplish and sometimes there are directives from the Regional Project Management Office (RPMO) that he needs to prioritize because of its urgency.

One of his favorite tasks as an ML is to conduct the Family Development Sessions (FDS). For him, the conduct of FDS gave him more opportunities to visit the villages assigned under his supervision as well as it encouraged learning on his part.

MALASAKIT

There are 50 barangays in Tobias Fornier and 25 are assigned to him of which, 15 of barangays are located in upland areas while 10 are Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA). Carl will have to ride in a habal-habal ride or motorcycle with an extension seat to accommodate other passengers, just to reach his GIDA villages assignment.

During FDS sharing, the beneficiaries would tell their experiences and learning from the topic she discussed. Some of them become emotional because they can relate and are going through a rough stage in their lives. This is an avenue in which Carl can identify those who are in need of help.

After the FDS, he also conducts home visitation and counseling to beneficiaries with absences in FDS and in their school attendance.

“When we have a conversation, I sincerely listen to their problems, their dreams and aspirations. I don’t present to them the solution. I make them contemplate of what they really want to happen in their lives because it is only them who can truly help themselves. I support their plan to change and do good things for themselves. We refer our beneficiaries to Livelihood programs so that they could generate extra income for their family,” he added.

In some sensitive cases, Carl referred them to Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) for the proper intervention. He said they asked parent leaders to help them monitor the improvement of the non- compliant beneficiaries so they could give feedback to them if indeed these beneficiaries follow the agreements they made during home visitations.

To give the beneficiaries to speak out their concerns, Carl holds the Parent Groups meeting. In these meetings, he always presents to them the new program updates in order for them to become well- informed of the new developments in the program.

As a group, they share their concerns about the barangay and the schools where their children study. In identifying their problems, they would come up with solutions that would be favorable to them and other concerned partners.

“To strengthen our relationship with the Education and Health Partners, we conduct facility visit, we gather their inputs and suggestions. They also tell us the names of beneficiaries they are having a hard time to deal with,” he said.

He added, “We also come up with strategies that will help in the successful implementation of the program. Through this, we establish rapport with our partners and make them realize to fully embrace their part in the program.”

It has been almost five years now since Carl joined the agency. In DSWD, hi did not only found a profession. Because of the work that he enjoys and loves, he found his heart also./dswd6/Montesa Caoyonan