Four years ago, when her eldest told her she wanted to enroll in college, Amelia Quinto cannot hide her fears.

“Alam kong hindi madali ang magpaaral sa college dahil nakakakwentuhan ko naman dati ‘yung mga nanay na nagpapaaral,” recalled Amelia, 47, a resident of Brgy. 10B in Cavite City.

Besides her limited income as a vendor to support her five children, Amelia’s fears doubled because at that time, she knew she has to support them all by herself. She decided to take the challenging task of parenting her children alone because of problems she had with her husband.

“Nakakaapekto na rin sa pag-aaral ng mga bata ang hindi pagkakasundo naming mag-asawa, kaya nag-desisyon na ako. Pinili ko ang mga anak ko, pinili kong suportahan silang mag-isa,” she shared.

Four years later, Amelia cannot hide her sense of pride and happiness. Her eldest daughter Maria Elena graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting this April 2016.

For her, the journey towards this achievement is not easy, but she is glad she took the chance. Despite being a solo parent, she never felt alone in any way.

Finding a partner

Amelia shares how lucky she is that her children did not let her suffer alone.

“Sabi ng mga anak ko, magtutulungan kami para makamit nila ang pangarap nila na makapag-aral. Hanggang sa school nila, nagtitinda ang mga anak ko para lang masuportahan ang aming mga pangangailangan,” said Amelia.

Besides this, Amelia is glad that they became a beneficiary of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in 2012.

The Pantawid Pamilya program, implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), invests on the health and education of children age zero to 18 belonging to qualified poor families through the provision of conditional cash grants. The said grants are received by the beneficiaries upon their compliance to certain conditions such as monthly preventive health checkups and 85 percent monthly class attendance of children.

Amelia’s family is one of the 12,565 solo-parent household-beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilya in the CALABARZON Region.

“Para akong nagkaroon ng sandalan. Naging malaking tulong ang programa para sa pag-aaral ng dalawa kong anak. Dahil dito, nagkaroon ako ng pagkakataon para mas mapagtuunan ang pagpapaunlad ng aking kabuhayan,” she shared.

According to Amelia, since the educational needs of her children are already being supported with the cash grants, she is able to use some of her income to expand her business.

“Yung dating isang tinda ko lang, nagiging dalawa na. May gulay na, may kakanin pa. Kahit papaano, yung kinikita ko dito ay malaking tulong na para suportahan ang aming pamilya  lalo na at dalawa ang nagkokolehiyo ko,” she shared.

As an added source of income, she rents ‘pero-pero’ (a battery-operated lamp) to her neighbors. Every day, just before dark, Amelia, together with one of her children, can be seen biking the narrow alleys of their barangay delivering the lamp to her customers. The next day, they’ll again be doing the same routine collecting all the batteries, which they will recharge the whole day.

With 20 units of ‘pero-pero,’ she earns PhP200 a day extra. This, however, is not simply an extra source of income for Amelia.

“Ang mga customer ko dito sa amin, mga walang kuryente sa bahay nila dahil mahirap lang din sila. Minsan, kahit yung pangrenta na PhP20 sa pero-pero kada gabi, hindi nila mabayaran. Pero ayos lang ‘yun sakin,” she shared.

According to her, she and her five children know very how well how hard it is to live without electricity at home.

“Naranasan ng mga anak ko na mag-aral sa tapat ng street lights, o kaya nagbabantay ako hanggang matapos silang mag-aral gamit ang kandila para makasigurong hindi kami masusunugan. Alam namin ang hirap kaya gusto ko namang tulungan ‘yung mga kapitbahay namin sa munting paraan,” Amelia shared.

Building a strong family

Other than the cash grants being provided by the Pantawid Pamilya, Amelia is thankful for how this program taught her to be a better parent.

“Sa aking pag-attend sa mga buwanang FDS (Family Development Sessions), marami akong natutunan. Pinakamahalaga na dito ay ang tamang pag-intindi sa mga bata at tamang komunikasyon sa pamilya,” she said.

The FDS is a monthly gathering of parent-grantees that teaches various family enhancement topics such as children’s rights, positive discipline, budget management and disaster preparedness among others.

According to Amelia, she used to not care about her children’s feelings or opinions.

“Dati, ako lang lagi ang nasusunod. Kailangang intindihin nila ang sinasabi ko. Pero ngayon, alam ko na ang importansya ng maayos na komunikasyon. Bukas ang pag-uusap sa pagitan naming lahat kaya mas naging maayos at malakas ang aming pamilya kahit wala ang tatay nila dito,” she shared.

For Amelia, the happiness they share today because of their good relationship at home and the accomplishments of her children in school reflects her success as a solo parent. This is what keeps her going every day and continuously inspires her to work harder until all her children achieve their dreams.#