More than being a Lady guard of a resort in the west, she is a Parent Leader, a hardworking mother, a school tutor and most of all a woman.

She stares and talks at you with a catching grin but what sets apart from the blissful disposition she wears, is a strong persona living in a rigid armour whose life was challenged by being a solo parent to children of five.

The battle taught her to face the raging stricken life with valour, but her life’s struggles always break her in tears, her selfless love for her children always dominate in every words she utter. After all, she isn’t a living hero we believe, As a woman, she is still susceptible to pain.

Norelyn Genturalez, 51, is an active beneficiary of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program of Barangay Maasin, Zamboanga City. Her back story narrates the days when she endured walking the dark streets of Pilar after a long day’s work serving as a house helper just to reach the school. Her perseverance to finish the degree in Elementary Education at Southern City Colleges becomes her driving force to pursue. Amid sacrifices she made to push her goal, she unfortunately failed. The earnings she receives at work isn’t enough to sustain a living which leads to insufficient financial capacity to continue her schooling. The dream to become a teacher might not have been achieved and favourable to her, but the positive heart challenged her to continue fighting. Knowing the situation she’s into, she’s always hopeful that someday life can be better.

When she started to build up her family, she recalled back the hard life she encountered. She could still remember the nights where they had to tolerate the old linoleum as the only protection to their back on the direct ground. A protection she believes her children do not deserve because it is unfit for comfortable sleeping. There were moments when they had to eat plain porridge with dash of salt because she can no longer provide complete meals that her children need for nourishment. Norelyn has been separated from her husband due to hostile reasons and the burden to survive a living and provision of family needs made her resilient even better by exerting all her means not to fail her duty. Saddened by the situation she was into, she never exhibited worries in front of her children.

In 2011, the turn of events gradually changed when Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program came in. With so much gratitude for the opportunity given, she believes that being part of the program entail her more responsibilities to take.

What used to be a timid and shy housewife, spending her days inside the household is now an active in the community with good presence in most of the activities. She never imagined herself serving for others apart from taking care of her family. She improved her confidence and determination to pursue life goals and in gratitude, she is grateful to know that all these capacities and social responsibility are learned during monthly Family Development Sessions of the program.

Earning a minimum of 4,000 monthly as a lady guard in AMR resort located in Cawit, Zamboanga City, she know that more than being a beneficiary who is given cash assistance, one has to stand and  push hard to further manifest change, she said.

Her empowerment is within her and indeed prevailing, she became a head guard of a local department store in the city for more than twelve years where she never imagined having the capacity to be one. When asked how she coped up the demands of the work provided she is a woman, she said that all her uncertainties gone by because what matters above else is her children’s future that grows up with pressing needs too. Sacrifice is truly the key how she survived the years, “Ang mga anak ko ang dahilan kung bakit ako nagpupursigi at naging matatag, magutom na ako huwag lang ang mga anak ko” (My children were the reason why I pursued hard and became strong, I could endure hunger but not my children), she added.

July 2015 when some Parent Leaders of Maasin were pre-selected and underwent coaching to be Reading Tutors to some students who were assessed to be slow readers. It immediately shed light and opened doors to finally achieve her long-time dream, an unfinished dream but a continuing mission she believed, which is to be a teacher. At her age, Norelyn could not believe that even in a simple way she was able to impart knowledge and served as a reading tutor to students in Maasin Learning Center. She dedicated an hour per week to assist children under grades 4 and 5 to improve their reading and comprehension capacity following some teaching modules. Her dream to teach and educate was somehow compensated and fulfilled with a great feeling of serving others in her community. She said that the program is not only beneficial to their students but also to them, the Parent Leaders.

Norelyn said that Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program transformed her into a woman of strength infused with capacities and new learnings. It enables her to mold the change that is within her, the change she believe of not because of her perseverance, will not prosper in due time.  She hopes that the every woman, members of Pantawid Pamilya in particular must see the turning points in their lives to stand up and believe in the change.  If not because of the empowerment stories she knew, she could not have the resiliency now. She hopes that her story can also create a ripple effect of inspiration to every woman who still lurking in the dark corners, where voices are mute and unheard.