38 women receive starter kits for completing Cookery and Meat Processing training

Thirty eight (38) women graduated from Cookery and Meat Processing training on 4 February 2016 at JMR Building, Tuburan, Ligao City

On 4 February 2016, 38 women were recognized for completing the Cookery and Meat Processing training at the Jesse M. Robredo Building, Tuburan, Ligao City. The training is another partnership program of the City Government of Ligao, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and Department of the Interior and Local Government under the Bottom Up Budgeting program.

As part of their completion, the trainees received starter kits which include a steamer, a refrigerator, kitchen scale, measuring cups, and food trays. This is to provide the trainees materials they can use to begin or improve their livelihood. 

As part of their training completion, the graduates receive a starter kit which includes a steamer, a refrigerator, kitchen scale, measuring cups, and food trays.

One of the graduates of the program, Marilyn Buenaventura of Barangay Binatagan, was teary-eyed as she expressed her words of gratitude for being part of the first batch of Cookery and Meat Processing training. Buenaventura has been planning to have her own business but due to lack of income, she can barely make the ends meet. Having received the starter kit, Buenaventura can finally make her dream come true and start her own business.

Tears of joy: Marilyn Buenaventura was teary-eyed as she expressed her words of gratitude for benefiting from the program.

Ligao City Mayor Patricia Gonzalez-Alsua encouraged the women to make use of their skills as this will empower them to be more productive and earn their own income while staying at home. She also advised the women on how to market their products from making taste-tests to selling outside their community. 

Ligao City Mayor Patricia Gonzalez-Alsua encouraged the women to use their skills and knowledge to improve their livelihood.

Bebilita Manlapas, a 52-year old Barangay Health Worker (BHW) at Pinit, is also thankful that she is among the beneficiaries of the program. Aside from being a mother and a BHW, she makes polvoron and sells them to schools and small stores for a living. Manlapas believes that, as a mother, she also has the responsibility of providing for her children despite having a husband who assumes the responsibility.

Bebilita Manlapas of Pinit, Ligao City found the opportunity to expand her business from selling polvoron to making longganisa and embutido using the starter kit she received.

Now that she has gained knowledge and skills in meat processing and received her own kitchen tools, Manlapas said she can now expand her business by selling longganisa and embutido.

The BUB program caters to the needs of different sectors for capacity building and livelihood improvement. In 2015, trainings on organic farming, dressmaking, and cosmetology were already conducted under this program. According to Mayor Gonzalez-Alsua, the City Government is preparing programs for 2016 under the BUB to address the needs of those in the marginalized sector build a sustainable source of livelihood. Lala Peñafiel/albay3d.blogspot.com