Recovery can be rough and discouraging after one experiences disasters such as fire accidents. In the blink of an eye, a fire can make you lose everything that you have.
However, when given the right opportunities, people can be capable of recovering and surviving life even after a terrible fire.
For Marivic Baldovino of Tago, Surigao del Sur, their family’s lives changed drastically when a fire took away their beloved homes and most-treasured belongings. During that dreadful moment, she thought that they will never heal from the pain brought by the fire. It felt like there was no tomorrow awaiting them anymore.
Fortunately, the hopelessness they felt only became a fleeting feeling.
Opportunity came knocking on their door when Marivic received livelihood assistance from the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) which they used as seed capital to establish a livelihood that can help them in their recuperation process.
Through sustainable livelihood, Marivic realized that after all, there was still a bright future possible for them.
Of losing and gaining
On February 19, 2019, at 3:00 in the afternoon, Marivic was busily working at the farm when some of her fellow farmers came running and shouting. “Naay sunog sa inyo! (There’s a fire at your place!)”, they told her.
Upon hearing this, Marivic dropped everything and rushed to their house. “Naa pa unta koy masalba sa among gamit. Palihog lang gyud (I hope I can still save some of our stuff. Please),” she kept thinking to herself.
Unfortunately, nothing was left of their house when she arrived. She saw her three children and hugged them tightly while crying. Despite the situation, Marivic, who has been a single parent for 10 years, still felt a slight relief because her children were at school when the fire happened.
As she recounted the days after the fire, Marivic cried for many days and nights. She said that her heart would break every time her children would ask her what will happen to them now. She would just remain quiet and smile meekly at them. Marivic just didn’t know how to answer her children.
One day, a staff from the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office came and brought some good news to Marivic. She was told that she was eligible to receive Php 20,000 as livelihood assistance from the DSWD-SLP so that she can put up a livelihood of her choice. When she heard this, Marivic burst into happy tears. Her prayers were finally getting answered. “Sobra-sobra gayud ang akong pagpasalamat kay nakadawat ko og ing-ani nga kantidad para sa akong livelihood, kay ako isip usa ka solo parent, nakahatag kini kanako og dugang income para naa ako masustento sa akong tulo ka anak (I am so thankful that I received this amount for my livelihood. As a solo parent, this will give me additional income so that I continually support my three children).
Using the livelihood assistance, Marivic opted to put up a sari-sari store at their new home in Barangay Mercedes, Tago. Since she opened her store, she would earn a maximum of Php 1,000 daily. She planted some root crops in their backyard as extra means of income as well. Marivic has also continued working as a farmer to make sure that she’ll be able to make ends meet.
Marivic may have been through a tough situation but she has proven that she was tougher than all the struggles that she and her family went through. She came to realize that with the right attitude and opportunity, recovery can be possible through sustainable livelihood.### (Social Marketing Section/DSWD Field Office Caraga)