Community volunteers in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental have expressed that patience, dedication, and hard work are the best weapons for them to achieve the needs of the community to improve their access to goods and services through safer pathways.
Emily, one of the volunteers of Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) Millennium Challenge Corporation in Sitio Pagtigaon, Caranoche, Sta. Catalina, shared the story of her struggles to accomplish their community project.
According to Social Marketing Officer Venice Polancos of Kalahi-CIDSS, the volunteers know that every single drop of their tears and sweat that fall on the ground would be balanced by the happiness of seeing that their sub-project has brought great help in their community.
Polancos said some volunteers of Sitio Pagtigaon had lost hope and had given up, but not Emily. She stood her ground, remained patient, and prayed for courage in persuading her co-volunteers to persevere, Polancos added.
“It may not have been our time yet to be prioritized, but I believe that we can make it happen. Our time would come,” an optimistic Emily shared.
When the much awaited sub-project prioritization came, the community volunteers rose to the challenge to have their sub-project consisting of one single barrel box culvert and one double barrel box culvert prioritized in the third cycle.
Polancos said they gave all their effort and owned up the project. They knew it was given to them for the purpose of assisting them with their struggles, especially in crossing the river they have to face daily, including eventual rains and floods.
“Sta. Catalina is one of the municipalities in Negros Oriental where it rains almost every day. This is also one of the challenges of every community volunteer in the implementation of the sub-projects. Sometimes, they must take extra time to finish it,” observed Polancos.
Volunteers have been empowered in many ways. Kalahi-CIDSS has taught them to be independent and to stand by every decision they make.
In a related development, some selected homegrown designers and representatives of some micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) in Negros Oriental have come together to come up with materials innovation recently.
To support Negros Oriental’s craft and furniture industry, local designers have pooled their efforts to augment their technical knowledge on various types and properties of materials so that their designs could become more suitable to specific types of materials.”
Among the agencies being tapped are the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI), Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI), Metals Industry Research and Development Institute (MIRDC), and Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI).
An expert from ITDI explained on the use of plastic, ceramics, and fiberglass as essential materials for the craft industry, including metals and related resource
Research and development on wood and non-wood forest products can also be done to transfer technologies and provide technical services and trainings especially to MSME, since majority of the businesses in the country come from this sector.”
Global competitiveness of environment-friendly forest-based products enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of existing forest-based industries and assist in the establishment of new enterprises.
The MSME sector includes manufacturers of furniture, gifts and decors, handicrafts, and fashion accessories. | NWI
