“It’s always been my passion in helping families in the remote areas that keeps me going…” Betty Garrido smiled when asked how she never gets tired in reaching out to families in the far flung areas of Tanauan, Bato, Abuyog and Hinunangan, all from the province of Leyte. She is the founder and the Executive Director and Cooperative General Manager of Leyte Family Development Organization (LEFADO)- Multi-purpose Cooperative.

At 73, in her inexorable drive in helping others, Garrido still looks back in her younger years as Midwife who has exposure in rural communities- extending a hand to every folks who needs assistance for family development. She said, this is where she gets her strength and adrenaline. She knows that there are a lot of families in the rural areas who needs to be guided to live life in the right track.

That is why she was so grateful when they signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) last March 24, 2011 in the presence of DSWD Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman and engaged as “gabay” for Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Pantawid Pamilya). Since with Pantawid Pamilya, their target audience is already available and organized.

LEFADO is one of the active Civil Society Organizations (CSO) from the region who provides technical trainings and classes focusing on Reproductive Health, Youth and Adolescent, Family Development, Family Planning, and Program on HIV-AIDS for free. These are their projects with Commission on Population (POPCOM). For Pantawid Pamilya they already have conducted community-based trainings on leadership for community organizing and responsible parenting. They just have to train more volunteers to serve as resource persons in the conduct of Family Development Sessions- one of the conditionalities of Pantawid Pamilya.

“I am just glad that Hinunangan Leyte is now a Pantawid Pamilya area”, Garrido stated since all four target municipalities of LEFADO are now Pantawid Pamilya areas. Hinunangan Leyte was recently added in the Pantawid Pamilya Program under Set 5.

“Now for the year 2012, we are looking forward to reach-out more families under Pantawid Pamilya by getting in touch with the Municipal Links assigned to targeted areas. So we could get the listing of beneficiaries and of course to train more volunteers from the municipalities who would be our development partners,” Garrido projects during the two-day Planning Workshop held at Don Felipe Hotel, Ormoc City last January 12-13, 2012 organized by the Convergence Program of the DSWD Field Office VIII.