ZAMBOANGA CITY, 07 March. (PIA 9) - - The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), being the lead agency in the fight against poverty is continuously implementing programs and services that provides assistance to empower and alleviate the condition of the poor families. With this mission of the department, a convergence strategy was done to realize to strengthen more the implementation of the core programs of DSWD.
Tagged as “TATSULO”, the convergence strategy enable the poor families uplift their living condition and achieve more development in their communities. The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program that provides conditional cash transfer, KALAHI-CIDSS a community driven development project and SEA-K a sustainable livelihood project are the three major programs, that would help the beneficiaries cross the line of poverty.
The Social Marketing Unit in its goal to disseminate information that the beneficiaries are not just passive recipients of the program but are active partners as well in the development of their community came up with a collection of inspiring stories from TATSULO communities in Western Mindanao entitled PAGLAOM (Hope).
The beneficiaries serve as tangible proof of the program’s positive benefits and impacts, as they share from a first-person perspective that Pantawid Pamilya, KALAHI-CIDSS and SEA-K has indeed helped improved the quality of their lives. They are good channels or medium to bring out to the public the positive effects of the program since they are credible advocates because their stories are based from their own experience.
After almost a month long travel to identify potential success stories from the beneficiaries, finally inspiring and touching stories were found which one could hardly believed is happening in their community. Having all these stories captured, the team finally compiled the stories that mirror the reality in the lives of the poor and how the different programs of the DSWD became instrument in uplifting their lives.
Last January 25,2012 the launching of the said compendium was done at Grand Astoria Hotel in Zamboanga City. Witnessing the launching are the guests from the media and other partners in the implementation of the programs and they had the opportunity to interact with the beneficiaries whose stories were published in the said book. During the launching some beneficiaries were invited and were given the opportunity to tell their stories straight from their heart. It is evident in the eyes of the listeners how they were greatly touched from their stories.
Eugenio Arama a native of Siayan, Zamboanga del Norte (considered the poorest municipality throughout the country), one of the beneficiaries featured in the book, shared his story during the launching. His sharing elicited teary-eyes from the audience, as his was a story of success in spite of the prevailing hardships he and his family faces. ( (JPA/JLE/DSWD/PIA- ZBST)