Guiuan, Eastern Samar— In a tent city managed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Barangay Salug in this town, four women prove that life goes on after Typhoon Yolanda.

For them, ‘Yolanda’ may have taken away their homes, livelihood, and even the simple comforts of life but what it left them is more important than anything—their will to survive.

Sherelyn Moran, Emalyn Atuel, Mergelyn Veras, and Janice Sanyo are all mother-grantees of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Pantawid Pamilya provides cash grants of as much as P1,400 to qualified households provided they comply to program conditionalities of sending their children to school and health centers for check up, and attending the monthly Family Development Sessions (FDS).

All four mothers are thankful for the cash grants given to them, however, what they are more grateful for is how the program through the monthly FDS has taught them how to strive harder and dream for a good future of their children.

FDS is a gathering of parent-beneficiaries where they are taught about parenting and homelife.

Realizing their important role of ensuring the well-being of their children even in times of disasters, the four mothers wasted no time to put normalcy back into their lives in ways they know how.

Taking the lead

The first few days after the storm were a nightmare for all of them. Their homes were totally washed out and their community was declared no-dwelling zone. Hence, they are all currently staying in the tent city here.

Their husbands, all are fishermen, cannot go to sea up to now. Their boats also were destroyed by the typhoon. All of them admitted that they continue to rely on relief goods to go on.

However, these four mothers are determined not to keep their lives that way. They looked for ways to earn  for their families.

“Pagkatapos ng ‘Yolanda’, naglalabada ako para kumita ng pera. Ito lang ang alam kong paraan para kumita ulit (After ‘Yolanda’, and up until now, I do laundry jobs. This is the only way I know that I can earn),” shared Emalyn, 50, who has six children.

Like Emalyn, all the three other mothers do laundry jobs as their source of income.

For them, this is the easiest way to augment the income of their husbands who are engaged in Cash-for-Work programs of DSWD and other humanitarian organizations after the typhoon.

“Ito lang ‘yung pagkakakitaan na hindi namin kailangan ng puhunan. Sa panahon ngayon, wala naman kaming mapagkukunan ng puhunan para ibalik yung dati naming kabuhayan. Mahirap namang umasa na lang kami palagi sa mga tulong na darating (This is the only livelihood we know that does not require capital. In these times, we do not know where to get capital to bring back our small businesses. We do not want to always rely on relief assistance),” said Mergelyn, 43, who was then currently finishing a batch of laundry in her makeshift laundry station at the back of their tent during the interview.

Going back to normal

​“Minsan masakit na sa katawan ang maglaba nang maglaba pero ito lang ‘yung alam naming paraan para masuportahan ang aming pamilya (We also get tired, but this is the only way we know that can support our families),” shared Sherelyn, 29.

For all these mothers, they will keep on working hard to save enough to meet the needs of their families.

Mergelyn does laundry jobs now for three families and is still scouting for other possible clients.

On the other hand, Sherelyn, Emalyn, and Janice are also working as babysitters. Janice also works as a house help.

“Mag-iipon kami hanggang maibalik namin ang aming dating buhay o mas umunlad pa. Balak kong bumalik ulit sa pagluluto ‘pag may naipon na ako  (We will work hard to improve our lives. I plan to go back to selling cooked foods),” said Emalyn.

All three others agreed. Besides ensuring that they have something nutritious on the table for their children daily, their priority is to save now to invest on boats and other fishing gears so their husbands can go back to fishing and have a regular income as soon as possible.

In the meantime, they will endure the hard work for their families, even if this means spending the whole day doing laundry or taking care of somebody else’s child.

For these four women, ‘Yolanda’ may have been the biggest nightmare, but this just made them more determined to get up and chase their dreams.  ###