Perlita Cahatol and her family of seven were coping with the demands of living in Cagayan de Oro City until they were challenged with bigger trials starting with her husband’s accident.

This forced the family to migrate to Kibawe, Bukidnon in hopes to have a better quality of life. The house they built were made of upcycled materials which is not protective of enough against weatherly elements as they now depend on their income as farmers.

Life is hard enough as it is but Perlita finds herself pregnant with their sixth child. The birth of the baby was also the day her husband got into another accident that left him permanently disabled from walking.

It was dark times for the family in coping with her husband’s accident that Perlita thought of giving up the baby for adoption. With her husband’s consent, the baby was turned over to a family who can best provide the developmental needs of the child. A hard decision to make but it was the best interest for the child that Perlita wants for her baby.

She set her focus on caring for his now-PWD husband and growing children who are also in need of her. Through fervent prayers for mercy and salvation that Perlita finds comfort to allay her worries and guilt. Little did she know that things are about to turn around for her.

As a 4Ps beneficiary, Perlita joined the Cookery NCII Skills Training by DSWD through the Sustainable Livelihood Program. The gained skills opened new opportunities for her as she opened her own eatery after completing the course.

Six years on, the business has grown and the family is living comfortably as she hoped. All children are doing good at school as scholars. They have been in close communication with their youngest who is living with his adoptive family and is migrating with them to another country soon.

From dried fish and shrimp paste as staple meals to affording healthy meals; light materials to concrete and tiled home; from living on a day-to-day basis to having savings, things are indeed looking up for Perlita.

For Perlita, SLP paved the way to a brighter future and cannot be more grateful for how her life turned out despite the many heavy trials she had to overcome including the health pandemic.

Flowers bloom at a certain time then it wilts. But as long as it is firmly rooted on the ground, it will bloom again – a metaphor of Karynn Gupit’s life, a 33-year-old mother of three from Brgy. Crossing, Libona, Bukidnon.

She has experienced many of ups and downs in her existence but continues to bloom despite these challenges. Karynn’s family was one of the many Filipino families whose source of household income were affected with the lockdown brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her husband Eldie used to work as a security guard in a food processing plant in Balubal, Cagayan de Oro City until the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) took effect.

The company went into recession and was bankrupt, leaving its workers the disadvantage to untimely end its contract, including Eldie. It was a hard time for the family to cope with such loss since they had no other source of income.

This urged Karynn to venture in opening small businesses – jumping from one business to another, just to have food on their table. It was until she engaged into selling house plants and flowers which became a popular trend for people staying indoors during the community quarantine. She rode with the tide of this whole “Plantita/tito” craze and took it to her advantage.

As one of the 82 Livelihood Assistance Grant (LAG) beneficiaries in Libona, Bukidnon, the amount received helped her family jump-start their plant business. From earning Php 300.00 – 700.00 a month, now she earns as much as Php3,000.00 in 2 weeks because of the opportunity given by DSWD.

She offers wide variety of plants to her customers which gave her an advantage against competitors. Gardening has been a way of releasing all the stresses for Karynn which is now what also feeds her family.

Through faith and prayers, she is all set for life’s cycle of growing and blooming.

Written by Jesus S. Rayat, Jr. and Vanessa D. Alcantar, DSWD