Wednesday, November 14, 2007 Antalan: How the poor survive By Roger P. Antalan Dateline Igacos
THE poor will always be with us. Inspite of all the anti-poverty programs of the government and other well-meaning groups. And always, there will be sad stories, even tragic ones, about the plight of the poor and the needy. Like the tragic sad story of Mariannet Amper, only 12 years old, who committed suicide last November 2.
Mariannet’s death has put Davao City and poverty under the spotlight these last two weeks. It has brought the nation to a state of grief and outrage. It is not our intention to add to the many expostulations and introspections of the sad event whether political, social, or religious.
However, I would like to join those who feel and hope that the shock of her dying will make people more caring and compassionate, determined to make life better for others and for people to feel deeply thankful for all the blessings they have.
So, with that in mind, and without finger-pointing on who to blame, we would like to switch our attention to and share with our readers, a number of stories about how a lot of the poor managed to survive against all kinds of odds.
These are true stories. They are stories of real persons, but being normally shy, they would not want their identities known.
The first case, if you want to call it that way, is the story of two widows who were sisters. This was in the late fifties. The older sister had three daughters, the younger, two daughters. Two simple-minded women trying to bring up five young girls. The older widow acted as the breadwinner. Everyday she went looking for work as laundrywoman, or saleslady, or maid, or going to rural areas to help in the harvests, or any odd job just to earn money for the seven of them. The younger widow stayed at home to do all the chores of a housekeeper. Today, all the five children have finished high school, two proceeded to earn college degrees with the help of some scholarships and are all married. The two widows? Both of them are resting happily (I’m sure) in heaven. It is very hard to imagine how they survived, but they did.
The second case is about Manang Maria (not her real name), also a widow left by a husband with nothing except four kids. The only thing Manang Maria knows was to work as helper in a farm. She had raised chickens and pigs and vegetables on the side. The children finished high school only. But they were very close as a family. Now all are happily married, one of them is even secretly a very rich businesswoman.
The third example is that of a housewife who had a husband and four children. The husband however contributed nothing to the rearing of the children. He was often either away or drunk or just jobless. The wife had no money for capital but she would sell products of friends and neighbors and get a small percentage as commissions for as low as P5 per item. She peddled perfumes, fancy jewelries, RTWs, fruitcakes during Christmas and whatever there was to sell as long as she gets a commission. Believe it or not, she achieved two great things among others. One, all the four children were well behaved even without a model father, and two, all of them finished college!
The fourth story is about a farmer and his wife who are just tenants. While waiting for the coconut to mature for harvest, and the little percentage of their share, the family has nothing much. One day, the wife attended the handicraft skills training run by the Congressional Office. The husband gathers the native pandan leaves and dries them. The wife makes mats, bags and slippers. Now they have extra source of income.
These are but a few examples of how many of the poor survive. These are not exceptional news items, but they are victories just the same. Those who survived are not only happy and thankful, but also feel blessed because they are now living better lives.
Mayor Duterte has a point when he said that nobody should go hungry in Davao City. There are many ways to earn a living and stay alive.
In Igacos, we have a saying that has been our rallying cry since 1998 when we became a city. It goes like this: Kung kita molihok lang gyud, dili kita maglisod. (If we only work very hard, we will not be hard-up.)
