NEW LUCENA, Iloilo – Women are an integral part of society, especially in our country’s workforce. The progress of the nation is not possible without their contribution.

Cynthia Gellanje, a mother of five and a carpenter’s wife, chose to work and earn rather than stay at home. Cynthia, 55, a resident of Brgy. Jelicuon Oeste, New Lucena, Iloilo, is a Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) grantee. She is a direct seller and an active Barangay Health Worker (BHW). She earns from direct selling and receives a monthly honorarium as a barangay volunteer. Despite her hard work and perseverance in supporting the family’s daily needs, it seems not enough as she continuously struggles to make ends meet.

In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic started, it brought a lot of challenges in the lives of Filipinos, and Cynthia’s family was greatly affected. Her husband lost his job the same as Cynthia who also lost her earnings from her small livelihood due to the imposed community quarantine. Even before the pandemic, the life of the family was already difficult, and losing their daily source of living made it more difficult for them.

As a BHW, Cynthia is one of the frontline workers. Despite the threat of contracting the Covid-19 virus, she bravely continues to provide public service to her community. She was tasked to deliver relief goods to the affected families in their barangay and provided assistance in the monitoring of outbound and inbound residents to ensure health and safety protocols are strictly followed.

Fortunately, in December last year, Cynthia was identified to be one of the beneficiaries of the Livelihood Assistance Grant (LAG) under the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP). She received Php 5,000.00 as an additional capital fund for her direct selling business. With her skills, hard work, and determination, the assistance provided by the Department was a big help in reopening her small business in the same year.

A new hope has motivated Cynthia to once again earn a living by selling her products around the municipality. She uses her purchased motorcycle as her means of transportation which also serves as a mobile pop-up store for her direct selling products. As an additional source of income, Cynthia sells cooked food in front of their residence. She also manages a small outlet of direct selling products inside the New Lucena Public Market.

She enjoys the nature of her work while passionately serving the people in their municipality. Cynthia is very thankful for all the assistance provided to her by DSWD-SLP which strengthened her skills, improved her personality, and made her the woman she is today. There is no force more powerful than a woman determined to rise. Her commitment and love towards her job and family became her ticket towards success.

“Ang kaimolon indi upang para mangin successful. Kinahanglan pangabudlayan, magsalig sa kaugalingon kag magdidikar sa obra para maabot gid ang mga handum. Ako, isa ka benepisyaryo ka 4Ps, tama gid kami kapigado sang una kag nagapasalamat gid ako sa DSWD-SLP sa ginhatag nga bulig pamaagi sa training kag livelihood assistance grant. Dako gid nga bulig ini sa akon pang dugang sang kapital ilabi na gid nga ako ang gina saligan sang amon nga pamilya,” said Cynthia. (jbggonzales/IPSPO/woochon/jrdlaspinas/SLPRPMO)

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