Before the break of dawn, just before the children wake, when most people drift in deep slumber, she is usually seen in her kitchen with bare hands covered with flour. As she begins the tedious process of noodle making, she meticulously mixes the right proportion of flour, water, egg and salt. She then patiently kneads the dough, rolls into thin sheets and cuts from scratch. Nothing beats a freshly made noodles out of the hands of a mother.
This is the typical day of Alma S. Pacunla, a mother from Barangay Liwayway, Diffun, Quirino and a recipient of the Livelihood Assistance Grant (LAG) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 02 (DSWD FO2) through its Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP).
During the onset of the pandemic in 2020, Alma’s family reached rock bottom as they faced financial challenges one after another. Her husband lost his long time job as technician due to sudden retrenchment of the company. The family’s other source of income; a carinderia located strategically in front of a school in their locality eventually went bankrupt since the start of online classes. The family was left no choice but to look for alternative means to put food on the table. Her husband became a tricycle driver but due to imposition of community quarantines it was also halted. She tried to venture on noodle production and vegetable chip making with a limited capital and equipment but it wasn’t enough to cover their needs.
Life has been difficult for Alma’s family. It was a desperate situation needing an immediate solution. As a mother of two (2) with no educational degree and a wife to her husband who currently was unemployed, she had to do all means necessary to supply their day to day needs. It was the very basic physiological need for survival that swayed her to seek help from the Local Government Unit of Diffun, Quirino.
Alma was endorsed to the SLP of DSWD FO2. In August 2021, the Department shed light to Alma’s plights as she was eligible to be one of the recipients of LAG. She received P10, 000 seed capital for her venture. She allocated the grant to purchase raw materials and additional equipment such as noodle maker and an electric sealer. In turn, the production of her venture became more efficient since the acquisition of her materials.
With the assistance given, she now supplies 60 kilos of noodles to lomi houses and 180 packs of vegetable chips to her patrons in the towns of Diffun and Saguday, Quirino. She also distributes her products to four (4) resellers. She earns a monthly average income of P6, 000 far from the P1, 500 monthly income prior to the intervention of DSWD FO2. Her regular income supports the needs of her family especially the maintenance medication of her husband who is suffering from diabetes. Unlike before, she no longer worries during meal time; she is now able to serve meals more than enough for her family. In the coming days ahead, she plans to improve her product particularly on packaging and labelling and put up a separate production area as part of her expansion. Thinking for the future of her family, she opened an account to set aside savings along with insurance.
Just like the process of making noodles; difficult and time consuming. Alma continually molds the future of her family however difficult and time consuming it may seem. The badge of years of hard work is seen in the calluses of her hands.
On break of dawn, just before the children wake, when most people drift in deep slumber, Alma is usually seen with her bare hands covered in flour, kneading the bright and abundant future she aspires for her and her family.
###Written by: Melisen A. Taquiqui