Like most women who have chores in the morning, Miraflor Pielago gathers her tools and prepares for the day’s work. However, unlike most women who work with clothes and soap doing laundry, she works with construction tools helping with the construction of their barangay’s multi-purpose hall.
“Sa halip na ang alam ko lang ay maglaba, natuto ako ng iba pang bagay–mga bagay na kadalasang ginagawa ng mga lalaki, pero kayang-kaya rin pala ng mga babae,” said Miraflor, 56.
Miraflor is a resident of Brgy. San Vicente in General Luna, Quezon Province. She volunteers for the improvement of their barangay’s multi-purpose hall under the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) program.
The Kalahi-CIDSS is a poverty reduction program of the DSWD that involves the citizens in the local development process of their communities from the planning, implementation, and monitoring of their need-responsive projects.
According to Miraflor, their multi-purpose hall is just one of the many things that Kalahi-CIDSS has brought to their community. More than this structure, the program has educated and engaged the residents in the implementation process. This made her and the rest of the villagers feel that their voices and participation have value in their community’s development.
Volunteer at heart
Miraflor lives with her husband Artemio, 65, who works as an on-call coconut and banana farmer and her granddaughter Maria Angelica, 16. They have four children, with families of their own now, who provide them monthly allowances to support for their daily needs.
Aside from doing daily household chores and attending the needs of the family, Miraflor volunteers in their community chapel for two years now where they provide health and spiritual care to malnourished children by conducting monthly home visits and feeding programs.
“Hindi ako sanay ng nasa bahay lang. Mas maligaya ako na nasa labas ako at tumutulong sa aking mga ka-baranggay,” Miraflor said.
Thus, when she learned about the Kalahi-CIDSS program that started in their barangay in 2014, she did not hesitate to volunteer.
“Naging interesado agad ako dahil gusto kong malaman ang iba pang paraan para makatulong sa mga tao. Ang dami kong natutunan sa Kalahi at mas naging malawak pa ang nagagawa ko para sa barangay,” she added.
Beyond the usual
In the implementation of the Kalahi-CIDSS multi-purpose hall, Miraflor was assigned as the bookkeeper. She admits that she had little knowledge about bookkeeping but through the trainings and seminars provided to them, she managed to perform her task well.
During the project’s construction, Miraflor also went beyond her tasks as a bookkeeper. She learned to mix cement and fasten steel bars from other laborers and later helped them to hasten the task.
“Walang magiging mahirap na gawain basta’t sama-sama sa paggawa. P’wede namang tumulong kahit babae o lalaki dahil ang mahalaga, mapapabilis ang paggawa ng trabaho,” she added.
Seeing her efforts and of the community
As of October 2015, their multi-purpose hall is nearly finished and will be completed before the year ends.
By then, Miraflor happily shares that they will finally have a permanent place to hold community activities and an evacuation center in times of disasters.
“Ang sarap makita na malapit nang mabuo ang project namin. Pakiramdam ko na may pakinabang ako sa baranggay dahil isa ako sa mga gumawa nito,” Miraflor said.
For Miraflor, her experience with Kalahi-CIDSS has taught her to go beyond the usual things she does as a woman. Today, she sees herself as a community member who can bring change in their community.#