Marife Villar looked forward to the time she’ll marry and build a family of her own. But when she finally did 20 years ago, she was surprised with what came next.

The 7^th of eight children, Marife is raised from a poor family. However, her parents saw her potentials and saw her as the hope of their family. Hence, she was sent to college, not like her older siblings.

She was only in 2^nd year college when she got married to Manolo Villar.   Like many other students, she was optimistic as to what her schooling would bring.  But her decision led to a life more difficult than she expected.  Being a college undergraduate, she and her husband strived to find a job. Her family stopped supporting her since.

“Ang pag-aasawa ko ang naging dahilan ng mga paghihirap ko,” she shared.

With four children now, Marife, together with her husband, look back to the early years of their married life thankful for the lessons they learned. They may have started their family off track, but what is important is the direction they are leading their children now.

 

Supporting the family’s needs

Marife, who is now 38 years old, still clearly remembers how hard life was to start a family at a young age.

“Kahit anong pagsisikap sa pang-araw-araw na buhay ay wala at wala pa ring nangyayari. Lahat na ng pwedeng pagkakitaan ay pinasukan na ng asawa ko pero wala pa rin,” said Marife.

She shared how they have to only eat just once a day, sleep hungry even if she is pregnant and ignore doctors’ prescriptions for her sick children because they cannot afford them.

But Marife began seeing new hope when they became a beneficiary of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

The Pantawid Pamilya program is a project of the national government that provides conditional cash grants to qualified poor families to support the needs on health and education of children age zero to 14.

According to her, the program helped them financially especially in supporting the needs of her children. However, Marife and her husband did not forget the value of working hard to continuously provide for their other needs.

Manolo works as a baker while Marife cooks kakanin for a living. Together, they work hard not only to ensure they can sustain providing most of their needs, but also give a good future for their children. Being a college undergraduate, Marife knows how different life would be if she got her diploma. Hence, they are doing everything now to support their children up to college.

With the assistance from the program meeting most of the needs of their children, the couple has saved enough money to buy two female hogs. This brought more income to their family and according to Marife, has started a better life for them.

 

Improving relationships, finding direction

Marife cannot hide how thankful her family is for the financial help from the Pantawid Pamilya program; however, Marife shared that there is more than just the money that her family is grateful for.

Through Family Development Sessions (FDS), Marife shared that she learned to better deal with her husband.

The FDS, a component of the Pantawid Pamilya program, is a monthly session of mother-grantees teaching various family-enhancement topics such as improving marital relationships and financial management.

“Naging maganda ang pagsasama naming mag-asawa dahil naging bukas ang aming komunikasyon sa isa’t isa. Nawala na rin ang mga bisyo katulad ng sugal, alak at pambababae,” Marife shared.

With a better relationship inside their home, Marife shares that they found a better direction.

“Hindi na katulad ng dati ang aming buhay na halos wala nang direksyon ang buhay namin. Ngayon, mas tumatak na sa isipan naming mag-asawa na ang pagsisikap ang simula ng magandang bukas. Pinagsisikapan naming mag-asawa na pagtapusin ang aming mga anak para maging maganda ang kanilang kinabukasan,” she shared.

With the life they have now, Marife no longer sees her marriage as a curse. Instead, she sees it as an opportunity to experience a better life, especially with what she and her husband are doing now for the future of their children.# with reports from DMGLapinid UPLB***