With a humid weather one late afternoon. Rays of sun peeps through the spaces of branches and leaves under a tree. A woman sweeps some of the leaves that have fallen. And there, in a rattan bench, under that tree, a story was told.

Home alone when we came, Zenaida Velasco had a reluctant smile at first. Her husband, Bernardo was at the field tending to their land while her kids were somewhere playing with their friends. Zenaida opted to be interviewed outside for us to get a feel of the cool breeze.

A mother of seven, Zenaida is a barangay secretary in Barangay Rosacara, Bansud, Oriental Mindoro and earns an honorarium of 3,500 pesos a month.

She sorts documents, takes minutes of meetings and sometimes represents their barangay in municipal meetings. Aside from her work in the barangay, the family is busy with their tasks in tending to their field. The Velasco is a tenant in a rice field. They give one-third of the harvest to the owner of the land while the remaining is what the family gets since they are also the ones who maintain the land. To contribute when not in plant and harvest season, Zenaida’s husband also works as a hired mangtatabas (someone who cuts tall grass) and earns 250 pesos a day.

It seems that the family have so much but they don’t. “Pagkatapos ng anihan, yung kitang pera ay binabayad din sa mga nautang kaya nauubos din,” said Zenaida. The family only gets to harvest twice a year and they also cannot rely on her salary as a barangay secretary since they also have a lot of contributions. But life continues and so they move with it.

Zenaida’s eldest, Richard, graduated from Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). He stopped working and came back home to be able to assist his family in farming. Since there is much work and Bernardo has a hard time doing it alone, Richard chose to be with his family for the time being. Zenaida’s second child is taking up Bachelor of Science in Education while the next two is in high school. While conducting the interview, her eldest is doing a household chore. Zenaida said that her daughter also accepts laundry to earn money for herself. “Masipag po talaga yan at pati narin po yung iba. Alam po nilang magkakapatid kung anong trabaho nila. Hindi na kailangang utusan pa. Yung isa nga po ay nagtitinda ng pagkain kasi may liga. Pagdating po ng pasukan ay may ipon sila,” told by Zenaida with a smile. It is evident in Zenaida’s eyes that she is proud of her children.

With the Velasco’s enthusiasm to finish their studies, a mother could only be happier. Zenaida remembered that she used to buy her children’s needs in school piece by piece before enrolment. But being a Pantawid Pamilya beneficiary has eased their expenses. She recalled, “Dati nung walang Pantawid, April palang bumibili na ako ng notebook, yung utay-utay. Nang nagkaprograma ay nakakabili na ako ng biglaan.” She added that since her children are also sickly, she is now able to buy medicine. The Velasco family belongs to the set 1 beneficiaries of the program in the municipality where more than 2,500 household families are served as of April 2013. Set to graduate this year, the family receives 1,400 pesos every month valid that they meet the conditionalities of the program.

Raising kids is not an easy job. The family is thankful to Pantawid Pamilya because they are able to provide the needs of their children. Zenaida said that the cash grants they received are not only intended for her three children included in the program but for all of her children. Sometimes, when her daughter in college has a requirement in school, Zenaida used the money because it was an immediate need.

Asked on how they spend quality time as a family, Zenaida answered that they just watched television series together. Together they laugh and cry with the characters they watch. One time they joke about eating all together outside, they ended up eating literally outside their house and setting up their table under a tree. Living a simple life with a dream of making it better, the Velasco family just keeps on doing what is necessary. Even after the program, with the interventions that the Department is willing to provide, as long as they are together, they know, they can go on and live each day, piece by piece.