For three months, the Ganza Family has made the elementary school their home.
What pushed the family to do this is not their lack of a good home. Rather, they did this small sacrifice to give the children in their barangay a chance to experience a better learning experience in school.
Couple Teodulo and Grace Ganza, residents of Brgy. Sta. Monica in Tagkawayan in Quezon Province, are both volunteers in the implementation of the school building sub-project in their barangay under the Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The Kalahi-CIDSS uses the community-driven development strategy, which involves local residents in improving access to services through participation in local planning, budgeting and implementation.
In the barangay, they implemented a three-classroom school building project, which costs PhP1.18 Million that was funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade – Australian Aid, one of DSWD’s development partners.
In the implementation of the said project, Teodulo, 39, was the Procurement Team head who’s in charge of the canvassing and purchasing of materials. Grace, 44, on the other hand was the Project Implementation Team (PIT) head. As the PIT head, it was Grace’s responsibility to oversee the implementation, especially the construction of the project.
“Para mas mabantayan at masiguro naming walang mawawala sa mga materyales namin sa construction, pinili naming doon matulog sa school sa loob ng tatlong buwan kasama ang dalawa naming anak,” Grace shared.
Every four in the morning, the couple will rouse their children from sleep and go home to prepare for school.
“Kapag nakaligo at nakakain na sila, babalik na sila sa school para pumasok. Kami namang mag-asawa ay diretso na sa paggawa ng mga gawain namin bilang volunteer hangging sa gabi,” she added.
For Grace and Teodulo, they do not mind even the rainy nights sleeping away from the comforts of their own home and even sacrificing their time to earn a living for the family.
“Ang mahalaga sa amin, may nagawa kami para sa community,” shared Grace.
For the education of the children
What inspires the couple more to volunteer for the community is how they value education, which was even fueled more when they became beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in 2014.
The Pantawid Pamilya is another program of the DSWD that provides conditional cash grants to qualified poor families to support the needs on health and education of children zero to 18.
Of their three children, two are beneficiaries of the program—14-year-old Jezreelyn and 10-year-old John Dave.
“Napakahalaga para sa amin ng edukasyon ng mga bata dahil ito ang alam naming makakatulong para umangat ang buhay nila,” Teodulo shared.
With the grants from the Pantawid Pamilya program, Grace shared that they felt relieved especially in answering the needs of their children in school. Her husband’s income as a farmer, according to her, is not enough to support most of their needs. Further, the grants allowed them to save some of Teodulo’s income for their other needs.
Receiving assistance like this makes the couple more determined to ensure that their children get the education they deserve and the good future they are dreaming for them.
Worth every sacrifice
Looking back at their experience working for the construction of the school building, the couple finds great satisfaction that they are able to provide their children better classrooms to inspire them to study harder every day.
Today, the three-classroom building is used by the children in their community. They are one of the 90 households who have benefitted from this project in the said barangay since its completion in November 2013.
“Kaming mga magulang ay hindi na kabado sa kalagayan ng aming mga anak sa school. Hindi na masikip at hindi na rin sila inaabot ng baha kapag umuulan,” Grace shared.
With the lessons and inspirations they earned from being beneficiaries of two of DSWD’s programs, the couple now works harder to ensure a better future for their children.
“Nag-iipon kami para matustusan namin ang panggastos sa high school at kolehiyo ng mga anak namin,” Grace proudly shared.
For Teodulo and Grace, it’s not only their children’s future that they have worked hard and sacrificed for.
“Sana ma-inspire lahat ng mga bata na mag-aral para mapaganda ang kanilang buhay lalo na ngayon na may bago na silang classroom,” Teodulo shared.#