Dahlia Atok, 53 years old of Barangay Concepcion, Ormoc City, lost her house and livelihood when Typhoon ‘Yolanda’ struck Eastern Visayas.

However, this unfortunate event did not dampen her spirit. She was confident that help would come eventually. She was right, after all, as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) came to their village to lend a helping hand.

Dahlia received P10,000 from the DSWD to repair her partially damaged home. And the assistance did not end there. She was also given livelihood opportunities starting with a six-month training on organic farming under the DSWD-Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP).

Today, Dahlia has not only rebuilt her family’s damaged home, but also their lives.

SLP is a community-based capacity building effort that seeks to improve the program participants’ socio-economic status. It is implemented through two tracks: Micro-enterprise Development and Employment Facilitation. The Micro-enterprise Development track supports micro-enterprises in becoming organizationally and economically viable, whereas the Employment Facilitation track assists participants to access appropriate employment opportunities. Both tracks are executed based on the Community-Driven Enterprise Development (CDED) approach, which equips program participants to actively contribute to production and labor markets by looking at available resources and accessible markets.

Love for farming

Dahlia became a beneficiary of the Bangon Mini Farm Project under the DSWD-SLP in partnership with Land Bank of the Philippines and other stakeholders.

Through this project, farmers like Dahlia can continue their agriculture business, such as organic farming and organic swine and poultry production.

Under SLP’s Enterprise Capital Assistance, Dahlia was given P10,000 worth of farm materials to help her start her new organic farming venture. They were also taught to improve the condition of the land and increase quality production by putting compost, mud pressed sugar cane, and organic fertilizer from Leyte Agricultural Corporation.

As of October 28, SLP has assisted 447,730 families from ‘Yolanda’-affected regions of Eastern Visayas, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and MIMAROPA, comprising 58% of its overall 2014-2016 target of 778,549 families.

“Masaya ako dahil ito talaga ang gusto ko, ang mag-farming. Ngayon kumikita na kami ng P1,000-P2,000 weekly kada lingo depende sa mga klase ng tanim na inaani at ipinagbibili namin  (I am happy because farming is really what I like to do. We now earn P1,000 to P2,000 weekly from the  different crops that we harvest and sell),” Dahlia proudly shared.
 
Dahlia utilizes integrated and multi cropping planting ornamental plants, herbs, and vegetables in her 1,000 square meters farm land. She also engages in swine and poultry production, and plans to construct a fish pond in the area.
 
Dahlia said the farm is really a big help since her husband, Johnny Atok, 49 years old, was paralyzed due to stroke nine years ago, and has suffered four strokes since then. He used to be a forester at the Kawayan Municipal Office.

Hence, to augment their income, she started farming in 2006.

They have five children, three finished college while the other two are still in college.

During weekends, her three children come home to work in the farm, while her two sons, John Oliver, 19, a third year college student taking up animal science at Visayas State University (VSU) and John Vincent, 17, a second year student pursuing agricultural engineering at VSU, are also working in the farm.
 
Dahlia said that farming keeps herself busy which also serves as therapy for her husband.
 
As a lead farmer, Dahlia has extended the project’s technology and shared the blessings of her farm by hiring two beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program who are student workers. Every weekend, the students work as her partner-farmers with a daily salary of P160.
 
“Ngayon nakakatulong na ako sa iba. Na-share ko pa ang bagong teknolohiya ng organic farming (I can now help other people, and also share the organic farming technology),” she enthused.
 
Aside from being a beneficiary of this project, Dahlia was also among those qualified to become part of the Cash for Building Livelihood Assets (CBLA), also a component of the SLP for ‘Yolanda’ survivors.
 
Under CBLA, she received P260 per day for a maximum of 15 days in exchange of working to help restore community facilities such as mangroves, day care centers, drainage canals, and markets, among others.
 
In Ormoc City alone, a total of 120 farmers availed themselves of the CBLA.

DSWD continues to extend technical assistance to beneficiaries such as financial management and the establishment of farmer’s associations and a cooperative.

DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman is pleased to know that two years after ‘Yolanda,’ survivors like Dahlia continue to demonstrate resiliency and have become agents of their own development. ###