“I’ve been a farmer since I was a child, my parents used to accompany me when they work to the farm. I thought the planted coconut trees and the farm that we used to till will guarantee our future…but now, nothing is left” narrates Felicitas Casil, 65 years old from Ban-ao, Baganga, Davao Oriental.
A survivor of the Typhoon Pablo in December 4, 2013, she felt very sad seeing that all houses and coconut trees were destroyed by the Typhoon. But now she can laugh recounting how the coconut trees were brought to the ground “It seems they had been been cut down by Typhoon Pablo with his chainsaw.”
Manang Eli, as she is fondly called, is already a grandmother but still work at her own backyard. She continues to tend her pigs and chickens that she initially raised as part of project she enrolled in entitled “Organic Fertilizer Production” that was organized by KPMFI-Balay Mindanaw.
She studied very well and practiced the technologies that have been taught during the training. Motivated to learn, she was able to create organic fertilizer out of the materials that are just present in her house: their urines, rice washes and kitchen waste bio leacheate extract to make the Urine-Based Fertilizer (UBF) and the ways of how to raise pigs and chickens.
The technology has been a great help to her and to her fellow survivors who joined the training. They can now save money instead of paying for commercial fetilizers, thus lessens their expenses. With her meager income in selling pigs and chicken, she doesn’t have enough money to buy all the needs of the family. “The project for me is a blessing”, she said. Blessing in the sense that whatever she will gain from it, it will be left for her granchildren. “Even the kids are very happy” she disclosed seeing her grandchildren enjoyed presence of the farm animals exclaiming, “finally we can go to school and continue our studies.”
Sharing how old she is now, Manang Eli shared, “I should be already resting and should not do any hard work anymore but having my grandchildren with me, I must work hard even if it means working early in the morning and going home late in the evening” thinking about their future.
Though it feels like they are living again from the beginning, Manang Eli is very much grateful for the opportunity to learn something that will sustain her family and also her community. Understanding that relief goods and food ration are not dependable and sustainable, she expressed that “No words can explain how thankful I am for the help of KPMFI, for the trust and confidence that they had shown, and for letting us realized that there’s still hope and a life for us.”
-Regine Mordeno