As a kid, I had been an avid fan of superheroes. I admire their extraordinary powers in saving the human race. I respect their dedication and determination in helping the needy. I have a high regard for their unwavering sacrifice in putting other people’s needs above everything else. I appreciate their unselfishness in devoting their lives to serve the world. I admire how they put their lives at stake for justice and peace.

And growing up opened my eyes to the selfish reality: when you’re on a crashing airplane, Superman won’t be there to lift it. Superman and his squad only exist in movies and in our brain’s wild fantasies.

But there’s one thing that I realized lately: that super humans don’t fly. You can find them ubiquitously. You don’t need to look for someone with costume. You don’t need to look above to see if there is someone out there flying. You don’t need to look for someone with super powers. Real super humans are simple people striving for the needy.

Commitment

Life is a wilderness. Unlike in measured experiments, you cannot control all the circumstances. Unexpected situations happen.

One important part of the Listahanan assessment is the On-Demand Application (ODA) where the household with complaints from the initial result of the assessment are assessed. And to accomplish the task, we were sent to do the fieldwork.

Working in the field is not as easy as others might think. Some would say that it is easier because nobody is there to watch you closely. They say that you own your time and that you can work in your own comfort. But fieldwork is not like what people think it is.

When you are summoned on field, you have to be both sun proof and water proof. You’ll have to burn yourself in the heat of the sun and drench yourself in the cold rain. You will have to defy hunger. You have to walk for miles because not all places are accessible by any transportation. You have to cross rivers and climb mountains. You have to be tireless. You have to face all the danger caused by other people and nature. Not that you are a martyr but it is your commitment to the public that will keep you going. You are a public servant and it is your duty to serve the people in any way that can be at your best.

 Heart of Eyes

Poverty can be easily defined as the insufficiency or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possession or money. However, seeing poverty in actual situation is much worse than its definition.

Life on field can make you see a lot of hidden reality: that behind the grandeur of idealism is the face of families struggling to eat daily. You will see the face of the children yearning for a better life. You will see the hardship and suffering of the parents trying more than their best to give their kids a beautiful future. You will see the elderly disregarding their age to work for a living. But the best things you’ll ever see on field are the shattered dreams still glimmering with hope. And Listahanan is like a gateway to their shimmering hope.

Listahanan is an information management system that identifies who and where the poor are in the country. The system makes available to national government agencies and other social protection stakeholders a database of poor families as reference in identifying potential beneficiaries of social protection programs.

Being part of this program makes us capable to reach all the people in our region. It gives us the power to give the poor a chance to benefit in social protection programs.

Gratitude

Being in Listahanan is not just an opportunity but also a privilege that not anyone can have. It is indeed a very difficult job to reach all people because it requires extraordinary strength and courage. But super humans don’t fly. And Listahanan is giving us the privilege to become super humans.

Truly, DSWD is an agency with a heart; not only in its logo but in the Department per se. Social Work is our commitment to the public.

I remember a colleague in the Department telling in one of our Monday pep talk: “when you are working in DSWD, you are no longer working to receive monthly salary, you are working for the people who needs your service instead.” ### By: Margarette B. Galimba, Administrative Assistant III/Listahanan IO