“Time is Gold, so it should not be wasted.” Evelyn spoke in affirmation when asked about the secret of her successful story as a beneficiary of the Convergence Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Situated in an interior purok of Barangay Maragang in Tigbao, Zamboanga del Sur, Evelyn Atis’ house looks like a 2-storey house when seen from outside but it’s actually a one-storey mixed wood and bamboo home built with a mezzanine where she and her husband together with their five children share an average size of a bedroom. She met us halfway to the house with a grin stretched wide across her face. She seemed so comfortable as she started telling their story. “We have just moved here a few years ago. Our house before was only made of nipa. We had to leave the place because the lot owner was already driving us away. Good thing that I was able to save a little amount of money from my small business then to start a small house here.” Due to financial constraint, Evelyn and her husband had collected a few used and leftover lumbers from their neighbours. They started building a temporary shelter at least with a roof on it for them not to get wet whenever rain comes. Despite the discomforts, Evelyn continued with her small business. “I continued selling yema while my husband also continued working in the farm but eventually he had to stop because he got sick. His eyes got swollen and became partially blind. So I had to double my effort in working and even tried to double my time earning for his medicine and school expenses of our children. The yema business became our primary source of income.” Evelyn sends yema to elementary students to let them sell inside their classroom and pay them 10% of their total earning in a day. For three months she did this as a vending strategy as she didn’t have enough time to sell because she was attending to his husband’s needs who was then sick. With nothing left as an option, she tried asking help from her mother, an option which was neither a success. “I attempted to approach her and ask for a financial assistance, but she refused to give me. She has always been against of our marriage. She didn’t want us to get married because we were too young then. I was 17 and my husaband was 19 when we settled down. Even before, she really told us not to ask for her help if we encounter problems.” Evelyn and her husband didn’t finish schooling. She only reached 2nd year in secondary while her husband stopped at the fourth grade. But amidst all the difficulties encountered at that time, Evelyn had only gotten stronger and more determined to survive. “I can’t do anything but use what was available at that time. So I used our savings from the yema business to have my husband checked. So I was left with so little amount. And I told myself that I should really maximize the only money we had.” Evelyn used a portion of the money as a capital to peddle fried banana. “At first I was so ashamed to peddle. Before going out of the house, I used to peek outside to check if there were people. It was so ironic that I should be looking for customers to buy my goods and yet I was also trying to avoid them.” Shared Evelyn. Evelyn admitted that their life turned180 degree when they became Pantawid pamilya beneficiaries. “It was such a relief on my part when we found out that we were qualified as beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilya. I even told myself that it was the solution to our problems. That I need not to get a portion from the business I had that time to spend for their education because Pantawid can shoulder it anyway.” And so Evelyn started to save more than the usual. They were even able to buy a plow for farming and as well as spend for the medication of her husband regularly. “The 300 pesos medication for my husband every week was not anymore that difficult to comply. Eventhough I was the only one who was working at that time and the only one who was supporting the financial necessities of our children. We also established a sari-sari store. And little by little, we were able to build our house, a more decent and comfortable house.” Inspite the improvement in the economic condition, Evelyn never felt complacent about it. But instead, she looked for some other means to continuously improve their living condition. True enough, after long years of fervent prayers, a life-changing opportunity knocked on their door. “In February 2013, I became a beneficiary of SLP (Sustainable Livelihood Program). They lent me 10,000 Pesos seed fund which I used to construct a small canteen inside the school campus where I can bring in and place my goods without carrying a table everyday.” Said Evelyn. As a gift to herself and a reward for all the hardworks she has done, she also bought some appliances like refrigerator for her new ice candy business, television and component. “This house and everything inside it, these will always remind me of how blessed I am to be part of Pantawid Pamilya and SLP. But of course, more than all the materialistic things we got, it is the moral and the technical lessons we have learned from Pantawid as we attend series of Family Development Sessions that really contributed to a kind of mother and wife I am today and to the trainings conducted by SLP which really taught me the principles of managing a business.” Evelyn happily narrated. Though not an active Kalahi-CIDSS volunteer, Evelyn was one of the beneficiaries of KC’s sub-project Day Care Center in Maragang since the first group of customers who would buy in her canteen is a bunch of Day Care schoolers in their village. “Before we didn’t have a Day Care center here in our barangay, so the children had to be brought by their parents to the other Day Care Center in the next barangay. So now through the Kalahi-CIDSS, the parents can now send their children to Day Care even without close supervision as it is only located near their houses.”Evelyn shares how Kalahi-CIDSS has done its part on improving the situation of their community. Evelyn is only one of the millions of Filipinos who have once faced life’s bitterness, endured it and wrestled against it. And when asked about the lesson she has learned from all her experiences with Tatsulo, she only has this to say, “Time is Gold. That’s the most precious lesson I have learned in attending our FDS (Family Development Session). Responsibilities had to be made in the fastest way for us not to be left behind.”