Women play a vital role in health care response in this pandemic. At the same time, they also do unpaid care work at home. This is the case of Manilyn Respensor from San Julian, Eastern Samar.
Manilyn is frontliner who serves as a Barangay Health Worker (BHW) in their community. She does frontline healthcare services while performing parenting responsibilities to her two children since her husband is working in Manila.
However, the pandemic displaced her husband’s job.
Since her income as a barangay as a BHW is insufficient for their daily needs, Manilyn sought ways to help sustain the needs of her family. Thus, she decided to work as a laborer in the improvement of an access road funded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Kalahi-CIDSS program.
“Napagpasyahan kong magtrabaho bilang isang laborer upang matugunan ang aming pang-araw-araw na gastos sapagkat ako lamang ang nagtatrabaho mula nang mawalan ng trabaho ang asawa ko sa Maynila yari ng lockdown. Napakalaking tulong sa akin ang ang pagkakataong ito na magkaroon ng karagdagang kita.
[I decided to work as a laborer to provide for our daily expenses because I am the only one working since my husband lost his job in Manila due to lockdown. It was a great help to me to have this opportunity of earning additional income].
“Being able to work in a paid labor scenario changed her perspective as a woman. She realized it is not only care work that a woman like her can do.
“Sa unang pagkakataon ko na naging laborer, napatunayan ko rin na kahit trabahong panlalaki ay kaya ko, at kaya naming gawin mga kababaihan. Higit sa lahat, ITO nakadagdag ng kumpiyansa sa sarili”
[ As I experienced being a laborer, I also proved that even women can do men’s work. Most of all, it added to my self -confidence.
”Despite her duties as a mother, frontliner, and laborer, Manilyn still managed to find time volunteering under Kalahi-CIDSS. To her, the program widened her experience and knowledge. Through volunteering, she has “found her value as a human. A kind of feeling she only felt from being a mother.
Marilyn ended her message by supporting the community-driven development strategy of DSWD Kalahi-CIDSS because “it recognized the significant role of women not only in the household but also in their respective communities, most especially during this pandemic.”
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