WOMEN assume many roles whether at home or at the workplace. The cliche that "behind every successful man is a woman," while correct in all aspects, is nothing truer compared to the saying "a woman doesn't need a man to be successful." Women tend to do everything they can for the sake of their family, no matter their incapacities.
In celebration of International Women’s Month in March, let’s get to know some women who hurdle their weaknesses and still give their best not only for themselves but for their families.
Remedios Barriga
42 years old
Remedios Barriga started having vision problems in 2005 which hindered her from doing her daily routine. “Especially nagda-drive ako every day, hassle talaga magsuot nang eyeglasses,” adding that a lot of her activities were hindered by wearing eyeglasses, not just driving.
“That time I still had a baby and wearing eyeglasses while taking care of my baby was already a struggle for me, but I needed to wear them. And during work I also needed to wear eyeglasses para makita agad ang mga reports or whatever needs to be done,” Remedios recalled.
She said she tried wearing contact lenses but she could not do it every day while working. “Syempre mag-alaga pa ng bata and the like. So na-discover ko ang Ortho-k, yun nag meet kami ni doktora (Dr. Dawn Tan of Eyecare Deluxe).
Remedios admitted that Orthokeratology was a very big help for her.
“Malaking tulong siya lalo na sa pagda-drive, nag balik agad ang vision ko sa 20/20 for a week, one-week ko lang nasuot ang Ortho-K lenses ko for every night tapos nagbalik na sa 20/20 at hindi na ako gumagamit ng eyeglasses during driving, sa pag-aalaga ng bata, during exercise, mag yoga at mag Zumba,” she enthused.
Remedios added that having an improved vision empowered her as a woman because she found the confidence to achieve many things in her life, starting with the routine activities she does every day.
“Kasi hindi ka na always mag-wear ng glasses. Yun, malaki talaga ang impact kasi pwede ko na magawa ang lahat ng pwede kong gagawin especially sa work ko na need ko magbabad sa computer. So now kaya ko na kahit walang eyeglasses na nabalik sa 20/20 na ang eyesight ko,” she said.
With this, she encourages women of all ages to do activities that promote self-care and self-love.
“Aside from work, aside from taking care of the family, try nyo din to do activities na will develop a happy hormone para maalagaan mo ang sarili mo,” she said.
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The Alimasag Family
Joycebel Alimasag, 44 years old, from Panabo City
Joycebel or Joy is a mother of three children -- 19-year-old boy, 17-year-old girl, and five-year-old boy. She is a working mom who co-manages the family business of her husband.
“On regular workdays I’m at work and on weekends, especially on Sunday, pasyal-pasyal sometimes we go to the beach, sometimes we go nature tripping; it’s a day when my husband and I spend time with our children,” Joy said of her routine.
She added that she also does yoga twice a week after work with her daughter, sister-in-law, and niece.
Joy started having vision problems five years ago, and she attributed it to her work that entails her to face the computer every day.
“But in my case naman it was not really that severe, kasi andon lang ako sa 75/100, but my two kids, yung kuya and ate, were enrolled with Doc Dawn’s Ortho-K,” she said.
She said the amazing thing about Ortho-K was that the vision of her son has improved dramatically.
“Kasi yung anak ko since grade two meron na siyang eye problem, at the age of eight parang yung vision niya is nasa 3.25. And when I discovered the Ortho-K program I enrolled my children and then I was very, very satisfied because in less than a month both of them had become 20/20.”
As for her, she said she only availed of reading glasses for herself. Their whole family are regular clients of Dr. Lareen Dawn Tan at Eyecare Deluxe.
Joy said having an improved eyesight is very important in accomplishing her tasks as a mom and wife, thus an improved vision greatly helps her to feel empowered.
“Kasi ngayon at this age, hindi lang kasi husband ang nagtatrabaho even yong mga babae. The wives also do their part to improve the welfare of their family so it is very, very helpful... kasi our eyesight is part of what we do every day, kasi naman what would the world become kung wala tayong nakikita, so with eyesight being corrected it’s a very, very big help,” she said.
She added that she saw the benefit of Ortho-K through her children, who, unlike before, can already do what they wanted to do.
“Yung aking anak na lalaki he grew up with eyeglasses at nung nag high school siya with Ortho-K he was able to do what he wanted like pwede na siyang mag-sports, na-conquer niya yung kanyang fear of heights and all just because he can now clearly see,” she said.
As advice to women, Joy said that although women are equal with men, there are things that only women can do for their spouse, and their family.
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Jessy Balagtas
36 years old
Obrero, Davao City
Jessy was working as a pharmacist at the Davao Doctors Hospital and Davao Medical School Foundation (DMSF). She even established the pharmacy program at DMSF hospital. But sometime in 2015-2016, when her father was struggling with their growing business, Jessy had to make a tough decision.
“I put my profession on hold and changed my career path. So right now I’m the HR head and administration head of GGH Construction Corporation; 360 degrees ang pag-change ng career path ko, from medical path now to construction and telecommunication,” Jessy recalls.
Although she said that her time for her hobbies has been consumed by her work, what she does during her free time to relax is to enjoy a cup of coffee.
“Coffee is my best remedy, but I also go to the beach as a reward to myself and then meet friends. I love meeting friends since I’m a very extroverted person. On my free time I also watch Netflix aside from reading books,” she says.
Jessy recalled having vision problems at a very young age. She said it was around 2nd year in her high school days that she already had 50/50 vision.
“I was in Manila, because I actually came from Manila. It was in the year 2000 when we transferred here in Davao, so it was only last year when I tried Doc Dawn,” she said.
During that time Jessy already had 750/750 grade, and that was just last year.
“Nong naging patient ako ni Doc Dawn I’m very happy kasi naging 20/20 na ang vision ko. I just had my anniversary last February using Ortho-K and I’m very satisfied because sa tulad ko na napakataas ng grado I couldn’t see people anymore, I mean if I don’t know you, I won’t really recognize you,” she enthused, recalling how hard for her to recognize someone or something during the time when her vision was at 750/750.
“The thing that I could only see was the color black, I could only see your hair but I could not anymore see your eyes, your mouth, your nose, but right now, I can’t clearly see you at all,” she narrated.
Jessy totally agrees that having an improved vision empowered her as a woman.
“Before when I was still wearing my eyeglasses, I was not really confident, mahiyain ako, sobra, although until now mahiyain pa rin ako but one thing is that without the glasses I feel more confident about myself; talking to people, giving eye to eye contact. Before kasi when I was wearing eyeglasses, of course it’s like shielding your eyes, you know, and sometimes people - they wouldn’t know if you’re really looking at them but right now I can like talk to you with eye-to-eye contact, hindi na nahihiya, and then the one I am really grateful is sa gabi when you’re wearing eye glasses, dumudoble ang hirap. Mas mahirap yung vision kapag malabo ang mata and then it’s gabi but right now I really appreciate it that I am able to appreciate the things around me even at night without my glasses on,” she said, apart from appreciating the things she can see now when she’s traveling.
“Unlike before where I can only see car lights, right now I really appreciate the things around me,” Jessy said.
For the women out there, Jessy says, “There is no limitation to the things we can accomplish as to men, especially if we put our hearts to it, whether you are visually impaired or not, there is no limitation to that. We can do a lot of things, we do a lot of roles, some may be mothers, daughters, friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs also, we do a lot of roles, and we should not limit ourselves. The most empowered women are those who are determined to rise up from their challenges in life.”
She also quoted a book from Steve Maraboli that says: “An empowered woman is powerful beyond measure and beautiful beyond description” - so to all the women out there, feel empowered and think beautiful because you are beautiful,” she ended.
Eyecare Deluxe is located at 2nd floor, Expansion Wing, Abreeza Ayala Mall, Davao City. For reservations, please call 09954632319 or (082) 225-9538 or visit their website: www.eyecaredeluxe.com.