While many Mindanawons continue to suffer from instability because of the conflict, some have been able to rebuild their lives. A few have also set up their own successful businesses through the microeconomic initiative (MEI) programme of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The programme provides vocational training, grants and microcredit support to people affected by conflict and disabled people.
A microeconomic grant can be used to either start or expand a business venture. It also places beneficiaries at the heart of the decision-making process, giving them greater ownership of the income-generating project.
Here is a story that gives us a peek at the hope and courage that people affected by conflict muster every day to deal with their challenges.
A mother’s dream fulfilled
Raising hogs is a skill that comes naturally to Lita and her husband.
When Lita’s* youngest son went missing, it felt like the end of her world.
He was studying in Marawi in 2017 and was about to graduate that year. He had planned to work in Iloilo. Lita had hoped that he would support the family after graduating from college and that life would become a little easier for them. But Lita’s life changed forever when the armed conflict broke out in Marawi in 2017. Lita vividly recollects the day she learned that her son was missing.
“My son was a working student. He told me that he would be staying a few more days in Marawi to help prepare for the town fiesta before coming home. That phone call was my last conversation with him,” says Lita, who has not heard from him in the last five years.
She kept herself busy by taking care of her grandchildren and tending to her corner store in Surigao del Sur. But life threw her another curveball when the pandemic struck, forcing her to close the store and seek other means of livelihood.
Lita and her family were finding it difficult to make ends meet, which is why she was elated when she found out about the ICRC’s cash grant. Lita decided to use the grant to do livestock farming, in which she and her husband had extensive experience.
“We wanted to start a piggery because we had raised animals like cows and goats when we were still living in Visayas,” she says, adding that they bought a few piglets, which they intend to raise and sell in a few months.
“The assistance from the ICRC was a big help to jump-start our livelihood. Once we sell the pigs, we intend to buy another batch of piglets to keep the income flowing. My husband and I are happy doing this job,” she says. (By Melrick Lucero/ICRC)
(*Names have been changed to protect identity.)
Photo from Melrick Lucero
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