Her Home Lost, But Not Her Resourcefulness
access_time Written on December 13, 2013
Article by Valerie Malabonga, a guest blogger for Five Talents and a long-time supporter of our partner organization in the Philippines, the Center for Community Transformation (CCT), was in the Philippines and visited some of CCT's staff and community partners affected by the typhoon.
"Willy" Lagunzil is a widow and a CCT Community Partner whose micro-enterprise is a sari-sari (variety) store in Estancia, Iloilo. At the height of Typhoon Haiyan, she and her three adult sons (her fourth son was not with them) sought shelter at a neighbor's concrete house. Her own house was almost completely destroyed, but she and her children converted what was left of their old house into their "new" house and variety store.
The day after Haiyan, Willy went to the Estancia pier and, with the last P200 ($4.65) in her pocket, she bought some bread and sold it to her neighbors. In true Five Talents' spirit, she then bought some goods to sell in her variety store. Her inventory was damaged, as the items were either blown away by the strong wind or ruined because of the rain. A neighbor also shared more bread with her, which she then distributed (for free) to her other neighbors.
"Willy" Lagunzil is a widow and a CCT Community Partner whose micro-enterprise is a sari-sari (variety) store in Estancia, Iloilo. At the height of Typhoon Haiyan, she and her three adult sons (her fourth son was not with them) sought shelter at a neighbor's concrete house. Her own house was almost completely destroyed, but she and her children converted what was left of their old house into their "new" house and variety store.
The day after Haiyan, Willy went to the Estancia pier and, with the last P200 ($4.65) in her pocket, she bought some bread and sold it to her neighbors. In true Five Talents' spirit, she then bought some goods to sell in her variety store. Her inventory was damaged, as the items were either blown away by the strong wind or ruined because of the rain. A neighbor also shared more bread with her, which she then distributed (for free) to her other neighbors.
Willy in her variety store with the two bags of bread that the CCT staff gave her in admiration of her resourcefulness just one day after the typhoon.
CCT staff learned of Willy’s story because, three days after the typhoon, CCT staff were going around bringing food for the Iloilo staff, and checking on their Estancia community partners. They saw Willy walking near the pier buying bread a second time and called her. Willy shared her story with the CCT staff, and the CCT staff then gave her some relief goods for herself and for her fellow community partners.
Willy is very happy to see CCT staff members Danilo Emyay (right) and Katrina de la Cruz (middle).
Despite her cheerfulness, Willy is concerned for her four sons, who all make their living as fishermen. All their boats and fishing gear were destroyed or lost, so she is now the family's main breadwinner. She needs more goods to sell in her variety store, as she currently has a very small inventory. May the Lord bless Willy and answer her prayers.
Epilogue: According to Dennis Monong, general manager for CCT's Savings and Credit Cooperative, CCT is planning to extend P5,000 ($116) in housing loans and P10,000 ($233) in livelihood loans to all community partners whose homes and/or livelihoods were damaged by Typhoon Haiyan. Of course, CCT has to find sources of funding for these plans, as they are estimating that the relief and rehabilitation efforts could cost about $2 million.
You can donate to CCT through the Five Talents’ website: http://www.fivetalents.org or the joint website here of our four US-based NGO partners of CCT:http://philippines.causevox.com/
