THEY used to have no fixed income and only waited for whatever food their husbands would bring. But these 18 women now own a bakery.
For Laila Sionomio, 39, of Brgy. San Francisco, Tapaz, Capiz, life has always been difficult. It has been their way of living.
She is an active beneficiary of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development married to Garry Sionomio who is engaged on buy and sell of fish as a source of income.
They are blessed with two children namely Gly Gil and Glyzha, the former being in Grade V while the latter is in Grade IV.Although she earned a degree in Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Laila was not able to get employed because of having polio.
It meant that before, most of the women and their children relied on their husbands to live. Their stomach would be empty without the men putting food on the table.
For about two months now, however, these women have become economically empowered as they became owners of an enterprise called, “San Francisco Pantawid Bakery.”
For the first 15 days of their operation, they have earned P22,000.
These Pantawid beneficiaries have identified the need to acquire skills geared towards enterprise creation so as not to rely on their husbands to provide for the family’s needs.
They thought that food, being one of the basic needs of human beings to survive, would always be in demand for people.
Aside from rice and viand, bread would be enough as a substitute for rice on a meal.
Hence, to match the opportunity with the identified skills needed, these women collectively agreed to acquire the Skills for Bread and Pastry Making.
To make the aspirations of these Pantawid women turn into reality, the Department of Social Welfare and Development through its Sustainable Livelihood Program had provided the needed help due to them as it envisions a society where no one is left behind.
Needed funds for the conduct of the skills training amounting to a total of P367,000 was provided. This included the budget for the training fee and starter kit.
Not only that the intervention ends on giving the said amount, but more on ensuring that the knowledge and technology was transferred to these women and in providing them the linkage to training institutions.
These women opted to pool together the funds to be able to put up and co-manage their bakery.
“Tungod kay nag-organize kami nga maging association, naging mas open-minded ako, mas naghaba ang pasensya, naging resourceful kag nag maayo ang relasyon namon sa amon mga kaupod. Wala ko man na apply ang akon kurso sa pag-empleyo, subong, nalipay ako kay ma-apply ko na siya tungod sang amon proyekto (As we organized ourselves into an association, I have become more open-minded, gained more patience, more resourceful and have established good relationship with other members. I may have not applied my undergraduate course through employment, I am now grateful for I could already apply it because of the project that we have),” said Laila.
As each day passes by, these women could say that they have spent their day valuably. Above all, what is important is from doing nothing and relying on their husbands’ income, they now earn a living from the bakery that they own with joy in their hearts./dswd6/Juliet U. Demo