In the remote area of Barangay Sobredillo in Caba, La Union, several “labtang” or twiner vines are seen hanging in the trees and seem futile. As you approach the community, the seemingly worthless vines are spiraled and scattered under the sun leading to the humble home of Marcela Rivera. There she can be seen turning the vines into something profitable. With the skills she developed, the vines are turned into baskets, placemats, planters, and many more.
Marcela learned weaving when her path entwined with her husband, Wilson. Since then, she has used that to help her husband to make a living for their family. For years, it has been the bread and butter of the family. It provided the needs of her children in school and covered the family’s daily expenses.
The healthy income of their livelihood continued until the coming of the pandemic, they couldn’t deliver their products in town because of community quarantines. “Hirap na hirap kami noong pandemic dahil nawalan kami bigla ng pagkakakitaan, tumigil ang orders ng aming produkto, buti na lamang at nabigyan kami noon ng tulong mula sa DSWD Field Office 1 – Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) at isinasama kami sa ibat-iba nilang aktibidad (We had a hard time during the pandemic because we suddenly lost our income, our product orders stopped, fortunately we were given assistance from the DSWD Field Office 1 – SLP and they involve us in their activities),” said Marcela.
She invested the Seed Capital Fund she received from the SLP in purchasing new weaving equipment to improve the quality of their products. Their products were also featured in the first season of SLP Online Product Live Selling – an SLP activity to promote its participants’ products to wider markets and increase the opportunity to link the participants to possible partners through maximizing online platforms.
“Dahil sa patuloy na pag-alalay sa aming ng programa, mas nakilala pa ang aming mga produkto, may mga umoorder na sa amin mula sa Maynila at hanggang ngayon ay sinusupplyan pa rin namin sila (Because of the continued support of the program, our products have been promoted, and until now we continue to supply our clients in Manila),” Marcela cheerfully shared.
The weaving pattern of Marcela’s journey may have been tangled by the pandemic, but she did not hesitate to start over. Marcela used the assistance she received from the DSWD FO 1- SLP as her motivation to improve her products and continue her successful life pattern. (by John Chris B. Zureta, Project Development Officer II / Social Marketing Officer – Sustainable Livelihood Program)
