‘Life will be better’ #28StoriesofGiving

MANILA, Philippines - In the fringes of Manila, a thousand, maybe a million, stories can be told of people living from day to day, scrounging for ways to put food on the table.

Lives and ways of thinking commonly in disarray, many families are never too sure when or where their next meal will be.

Orphaned at a young age and working her way through high school, Margarita Elunio could have well been consigned to such an existence. She has stared poverty in the face all too often, and has seen the tides come and go.

Navigating one’s way through the narrow alleyways of Navotas to find her home can be quite an adventure. After rows and rows of small concrete houses, what you will eventually see is a lone structure made of bamboo and, for the most part, makeshift materials.

“Huwag po kayo diyan tumuntong Sir, baka kayo mahulog (Careful where you step, Sir, you might fall),” Margarita addressed STAR chief photographer Val Rodriguez as she apologetically welcomed us into her home.

Margarita’s home is a metaphor for her own life’s struggles, having survived the onslaught of typhoons Ondoy and Pedring, tattered and torn but still standing. She is, after all, a survivor.

Margarita tells us that when she was in high school, she made it as an honor student, but later had to forego her dreams because of limited financial means. This is why the education that eluded her is the one gift she wants her children to enjoy and nurture.

While she dreams of a better home – a better life – she says that can wait.

“Focus ko ngayon talaga ay yung pag-aaral ng mga anak ko (I want to make sure that my children finish school),” she shares.

Maurine, the elder of the two, is a Rotary scholar taking up a degree in education at the Navotas Polytechnic College and a civic-minded student leader. The youngest, Monica, is taking up a degree in human resources.

“Kahit wala kaming kainin, basta ang mga anak ko, nag-aaral (It does not matter if we have to give up on food, as long as my children go to school),” she adds, as if to stress that where poverty exists, people have no choice but to give up one for the other.

“Pag tipid yung pagkain namin, ang ulam namin chicharon, sardinas o hati-hati sa isang itlog (When we have to scrimp on food, we eat pork rind or sardines, or we share an egg),” she narrates.

Together with common-law husband Patricio, Margarita is a fixture on the fish ports of Navotas. Their trade consists of helping out fishermen and gathering shellfish whenever they could. For the effort, they earn P200 a day – sometimes less, sometimes more.

Aside from her two youngest children, the couple also supports two grandchildren, one of their elder daughters, and an adoptive daughter who is actually a distant relative.

Despite their station in life, Margarita remains hopeful and draws resolve from her hardworking nature.

Her daughter, Maurine, is graduating soon, and actively serves the church and the community.

“Mababait yang mga anak ko (They are good children),” she says, not hiding the fact that she is proud of her children.

Margarita dreams of saving up for a banca that would help augment the family’s income.

“Kung magkakaron kami ng ganon, pagyayamanin namin kasi alam namin ang takbo ng dagat (If we could get one of those, we will take care of it because we know the ways of the sea),” she shares. They can take care of motorizing the boat eventually, she adds, they just need something to start with.

While her house looks shabby and rundown, she knows that a fishing boat will serve the family in better stead in the long run.

“Kapag bumabagyo, pinapanood lang namin kung babagsak, pero sa awa naman ng Diyos, nakatayo kahit na kawa-kawayan lang (Whenever there’s a typhoon, we just wait and see if it will collapse, but thank God, it endures even if made only of bamboo),” she shares.

Indeed, Margarita’s home is a metaphor for her life’s struggles – tattered and torn but standing proud. Sometimes, it is all she has, even when passing storms disrupt their daily routine.

She is, after all, a survivor.

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