His feet are sculptures accentuated with proud veins polished by hardships and strengthened by years of farming. His wife’s hands are embraced with callous skin collected from endless stories of struggle – exuberated from a smile that embellished her face. Ronaldy and Pinky Maurin, is a couple, whose names are akin to adverbs, modifying an act – that of tenacity and resilience.

The layers of colors that sketch the journey of Ronaldy and Pinky are an interesting mixture of vibrant yet bland hues of failures and successes. They got married in their early twenties – without a clue, without a job and without a decent place to live.

The 3Ps of the 4Ps

Abra de Ilog in Occidental Mindoro is a canvass splattered with greeneries of trees and mountain ranges. On rainy season, the land is painted with puddles of mud and bumpy roads soaked in heavy rainfall – visiting a house far off the town at wet season requires tons of energy – consumable in hours of walk, motorcycle rides and a long stretch of patience.

Ronaldy and Pinky built a house at a far end of a small sitio. The heavy rain turns the path to their home into sticky pile of mud and big blotches of water strewn across the road. The Maurins have a small house, the size of a regular cottage on a fancy resort. A visitor is greeted with wooden fences erected before the door and a narrow path that leads to their living room. The walls in the interior of the house are a waterfall of their children’s graduation pictures and medals awarded to students with honors. “Ayan po ang mga pictures ng mga anak kong nagtapos ng elementarya at highschool, yung ibang mga gold medals ay dun sa honor ng anak ko sa highschool,” a proud remark of Pinky.

The Maurins are parents to three girls, Precious, Princelle and Princess. “Lahat po letter p, three Ps po,” remarked Ronaldy with a hint of humor, referencing to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the DSWD to which his children are beneficiaries of.

Starting young

Eloping is an ultimate display of love for a couple who are eager to tie the knot. At a time when maturity barely kicks in, Ronaldy and Pinky runaway and eventually got married. “Hindi po namin alam, pero basta gusto lang namin na magkasama na nuon, kaya nagtanan na kami,” recalled Pinky.

They had nothing. Abra de Ilog, is economically behind its neighboring municipalities, and finding a job would mean having to look for a needle in a stack of hay. When they moved together, Ronaldy had to juggle 3 jobs to support his wife and a to-be-born eldest child, Precious. He wakes at dawn to tend palay field for a landlord he worked for.  He took on carpentry jobs for neighbors building a house, and in the afternoon, before leaving for home, he picks vegetables for his wife to sell, whatever is left would be served for dinner on their table.

“Awang awa man ako sa asawa ko, wala naman akong magawa at kelangan nya talaga magsumikap dahil wala kaming kakainin,” said Pinky.

Luck out of a pig’s den

Piggery is one of the top sources of income in Abra de Ilog. Few are able to afford the overhead cost of building their own piggery. At the time when the Maurins are struggling to keep up with the demands of starting a family, Pinky had to resort to a deal with his brother-in-law, who owns a piggery. She took the responsibility of raising swines from birth to selling period without any monetary consolation. One of the swines she was raising birthed to 12 piglets to which a piece was given to her as a gesture of goodwill.

Pinky was determined to help her husband so she decided to raise one piglet. She did not have cash to buy feeds so she proactively collects leftovers from neighbours to feed to her piglet. “Nahihirapan po ako lalo na at buntis, pero kailangan po talaga at para tulong kami ng asawa ko,” said Pinky.

It was in 2011 when things took a turn. “Nang nabalitaan po namin na may magbibigay daw ng grant galing DSWD, yung sa SLP, nagmadali po talaga ako, lahat ng requirements inipon ko talaga dahil gustong- gusto ko po na makapagsimula,” she said, nostalgically.

Her prayers were heard, and she was granted with a 10,000-peso start up capital for the livelihood of her choice. Pinky invested the grant to piggery. With her sheer knowledge on raising hogs and swines, she’s able to raise 4 hogs and 3 swines in the beginning. All earnings from selling the first set of adult pigs were then again invested to expand her piggery.

“Wala pa kaming masyadong kinikita sa simula kasi lahat ay ipinupuhunan namin, kahit wala kaming kainin muna, basta yung mga baboy ay maganda ang paglaki, okay lang,” said Ronaldy while showing their piggery farm that now has a total of 10 hogs, 2 swines and 4 piglets.

The road to better days

Pinky is a leader to their cluster. She has high regard for the importance of saving that she embody in her initiative to start a cooperative savings account amongst her cluster. “Meron na kaming 32,000 pesos sa ngayon, medyo maliit pero napakikinabangan namin, basta may maingailangan sa grupo na pandagdag puhunan, duon na namin kinukuha, walang interest poi yon,” Pinky, said proudly.

Looking back, she humbly admits how difficult it is to imagine how she and her husband pulled their life together and stood on their feet .Ronaldy’s parents gifted them with a lot in downtown Abra de Ilog that they will use to build another house. The Maurins also have the consciousness to save on a monthly basis as they want all their children to finish school. “Importante sa lahat eh pagaaral po ng lahat ng anak namin, kahit din a masyado makabili ng ibang gamit na hindi pa naman kelangan,” stressed Ronaldy.

Life has been a whirlwind for the Maurins and the tracks of hardships they’ve been through can be traced on every word they’ve spoken. But the will to live, exudes in proud display of humble accomplishments and bold act of dreaming for better days ahead.