For Jocelyn Caparoso and her family, the past 33 years have not been easy. The couple of Barangay Tabuc, Cawayan, Masbate, with five children went a lot of struggles in life only to survive.

Jocelyn and her husband—Roque, 40, worked as farmers and earn P3,000 a month, just enough to survive when supplemented by vegetables they grew for themselves and pigs raised for their food.

However, with the couple’s honest, simple way of living and perseverance in earning and saving money for the future of their children, they were able to improve their living condition.

At present, the family is only one among the 368,576 beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in Bicol Region who were provided with health and educational assistance by the said program.

Pantawid Pamilya is a program that invests in human capital that is contributory to poverty-reduction. It provides cash grants of P500 in health and P300 in education for a family that has three children, ages 0 to 14, enrolled in the program.

“Dakula po ining tabang samo para makabangon sa sobrang pagtios [It is a big help to us to alleviate from extreme poverty],” Jocelyn said.

Prayers despite pain

Over the past decade, Jocelyn said their life has always been a hand to mouth existence. The couple was not able to finish their college education because their parents are so hard-up that they could not even raise the lowest college tuition available no matter how much they try to save.

At the age of 16, Jocelyn got married. Then, while carrying her third child, she acquired heart and lung ailment for doing strenuous work. Since she needed to undergo treatment, she worries so hard of the life of her daughter and their financial difficulties. “Nagtaram po ako sa Ginoo na kung si Chin-chin mabuhay, masirbi kami sa iya habang buhay. Milagro na inaki kong normal si Chin-chin. Dakol man nagtabang samo [I asked God that if Chin-chin would live, we will serve him for the rest of our life. It was a miracle that Chin-chin was born normal. A lot of people also helped us],” she recalled.

Education and Health Means a lot

The couple poured their strength, energy and focus on working even harder to make sure that their children would finish until college.

“Masaya po kami dahil sa Pantawid, diretso sa pag aaral ang mga anak ko. Nakaipon kami ng pera na ginamit namin sa pagtanim ng prutas, mga gulay at manga, [We are happy because through the help of Pantawid, my children were able to continue their schooling. We are able to save money which we used to plant fruits, vegetables and mango],” Jocelyn stated.

Now, the couple is fulfilled of what their children achieved. “Proud kami dahil si Rose Jean, 21, nakatapos ng 2-year course at nagtatrabaho sa Cebu, si Roselyn, 19, nasa college, yung dalawa–Chin-chin, 16, at Angilyn, 14, nasa high school at si Cristy, 10, nasa elementary [We are proud because Rose Jean, 21, finished her 2-year course and is now working in Cebu, Roselyn, 19, is in college, the other two–Chin-chin, 16, at Angilyn, 14, are in high school and Cristy, 10, is in elementary],” she added.

Her children are also consistent honor students.

Noble Deeds in the Community

As a way of giving back the blessings the family received Jocelyn opted to serve her barangay through voluntary woks. She helps her community folks by being a barangay health worker, parent leader, member of the operation and maintenance of the newly constructed health center project of Kalahi-CIDSS and president of Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP).

Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) and SLP are another anti-poverty programs of the national government implemented under the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Kalahi-CIDSS focuses in providing infrastructure and facility projects to poor communities like health and day care centers, sea-walls, farm to market roads, cable bridges, elementary and high school buildings, while SLP provides livelihood training and capital assistance to poor families.

As a parent leader, Jocelyn leads her co-pantawid beneficiaries and facilitates their needs, queries, and problems. She also encourages them to pray before the start of Family Development Session (FDS) – a monthly activity conducted under Pantawid Pamilya that aims to empower and strengthen the relationship and ties among family members and the community.

More than that, she taught two of her co-members how to write. “Nakita ko kasi na tamla lang gamit nila sa pagpirma, kaya ngayon marunong na sila magsulat ng pangalan nila at magpirma. Su mga aki man ninda nagpatukdo sako magpangadyi [I saw them using their thumb in putting signature, so I teach them how to write their name and how to sign. The children also asked me to teach them how to pray],” Jocelyn said.

Changing lives

With the new health center amounting to P866,603,35 residents have now an area for medical check-up specially to sick children, elderly, and pregnant women. “Nagpapasalamat po kami dahil malaking tulong po ito sa amin. Maganda at maaliwalas ito. [We are thankful because it is a big help to us. It is beautiful and well ventilated],” Jocelyn stated.

Their monthly FDS also helped beneficiaries to improve their relationship in the family and community. “Tinuruan kami kung pano mag-alaga ng anak, kung ano ang mga karapatan ng mga babae. Yung FDS ay nakatulong din dahil kaunti na lang na benepisyaryo na sugarol at umiinom [We were taught how to raise our children properly and the rights of women. The FDS also helps us because only few beneficiaries are gambling and drinking alcohol],” she added.

The loan money worth P10,000 that Jocelyn received from SLP enables them to invest in planting mangoes and raising pigs to sell to the market.

In addition, their hard work, determination and proper handling of finances helped them to acquire a concrete house and lot and motorcycle. “Salamat po sa blessing. Kahit wala pa po kami banyo sa harong pero next project mi po ito. [Thank you for the blessing. Although, we do not have a comfort room yet but it will be our next project],” Jocelyn stated.

Helping together at Home

Also, each member of the family helps together and responsibly took their part in doing the chores in the house. Her husband was the one who is assigned in cooking food when times Jocelyn needed to attend meetings.

During summer, the children help in planting and harvesting fruits, vegetables and crops in the farm. “May napundar din po kami na lote galing sa kita namin at tulong-tulong kami na magtanim pati sa mga gawaing bahay, [We were able to acquire a lot from our earnings and we help each other in planting and doing the chores in the house],” she added.

The family also never forgets to pray together and hear mass every Sunday.

Like thousands of poor but determined families in the Region, the Caparoso family has proven that the ticket out of their financial predicament lies in sacrifice, determination, hard work, prayers and having a good education for their children. “Dahil ayaw ko ng maranasan ng mga anak ko ang paghihirap na naranasan namin at patuloy namin sisikapin maabot ang pangarap nilang maging propesyunal sa hinaharap. [Because we do not want our children to experience the same hardships we encountered and we will continue on achieving their dreams to become professionals in the future],” Jocelyn ended.***G.A.N.Lindio, Info.

Officer