Guillerma Conde, 55, a beneficiary of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program from Brgy Bancal, Carmona, Cavite, shares how she successfully raised her dozen children as a widow for 12 years. Through the capital assistance from the Sustainable Livelihood Program, she invested on her sewing business, which now helps her send her children to school, three of whom are in college.***

 

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It took her 12 years of struggles to finally say she can successfully raise her 12 children.

Guillerma Conde, 55, a resident of Brgy. Bancal in Carmona, Cavite Province, has been raising her children all by herself since 2002 when her husband died of leukemia.  It was a big burden considering two of their children have disabilities and their youngest is only two years old.

“Hindi ko alam ang gagawin ko noon. Paano ko sila bubuhayin? Wala akong ibang pwedeng kapitan kung hindi ang sarili ko lang,” Guillerma shared as she tries to hold back her tears.

Today, however, she cannot be prouder as a solo parent.

“Sa tingin ko, nagtagumpay ako. ‘Yung nasusuportahan ko ngayon sa kolehiyo ang tatlo kong anak at napag-aral ko ‘yung mga nakatatanda hanggang high school, iyon na marahil ang sukatan ng tagumpay ko sa ngayon,” she shared with pride.

 

Sewing for her children

As a street sweeper, Guillerma’s best finds were always bags of scrap fabric from nearby factories. Paid Php120 a day, she knew her job is not enough to feed her children. Hence, she was pushed to find other means to earn for them.

She did not know how to sew, but she continued to look for scrap fabric that she can convert into garments.

“May nahiram akong makina sa kaibigan ko at unti-unti kong tinuruan ang sarili kong manahi. Kinakalas ko ang mga lumang damit at pinag-aaralan kung paano iyon tinatahi,” she said.

Twelve years later, she invested on her skill and started a growing business.

Guillerma was qualified to be a beneficiary of the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) where she was loaned Php5,000.00 capital in January 2014.

She used the capital to buy fabric that she sewed into garments and sell them to her neighbors. Currently, she is sewing school uniforms that she sells to parents.

“Dati, naghihintay lang ako kung may magpapatahi. Ngayon na may kapital na ako, nakakabili ako ng tela at natatahi kung ano ang sa tingin ko ay kailangan at naibebenta ko rin kaagad,” she shared.

 

Saving for the future

As a beneficiary of the program, Guillerma learned the value of saving for the future. She admitted that before, they live on a day-to-day basis.

“Ngayon, na-oobliga na akong mag-ipon. Nagbabayad ako sa samahan namin sa SLP ng Php170 kada linggo. ‘Yung Php100 para sa bayad ko sa puhunang ipinahiram, ‘yung Php50 savings ko at ‘yung Php20 para sa emergency at miscellaneous funds ng grupo. Balak kong gamitin ang ipon ko para patuloy na masuportahan ang mga anak ko,” she shared.

Besides SLP, Guillerma is also a beneficiary of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, a project of the national government that provides conditional cash grants to qualified poor families that supports the education and health needs of children age zero to 14.

Guillerma’s youngest child is the sole child-beneficiary of the program in the family. Though she is thankful for the cash grants, she is happier about how it helped her through Family Development Sessions (FDS).

According to her, the FDS has helped improve her spiritually, and she eventually shared what she learned to her children, some of them have families of their own now.

“Ngayon, alam ko kung gaano ako kaswerte at kamahal ni Lord dahil pinagkatiwalaan n’ya ako ng 12 na anak para mapalaki ng tama. Sa abot ng aking makakaya, sinusuportahan ko silang lahat sa kanilang pag-aaral para mabago naman ang takbo ng buhay nila,” she shared.

For the last 12 years of her life, Guillerma experienced loneliness, hardship and defeat. However, she remains thankful to all those years because it brought her to where her family is now and definitely to a better future for all her 12 children.***