Assistance in a time of grief

“I will leave it up to Allah if I will earn anything for the day,” Magondaya Torondaya, 63, said in tears. 

Magondaya sells palapa for a living. A staple sweet and spicy Maranao condiment, she makes the palapa herself and peddles it around every day. 

Because senior citizens are more vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus, health protocols are stricter for them. At the height of the pandemic and the strict implementation of the government restrictions, Mogondaya couldn’t go outside and her only source of income was taken away. 

To adapt to the hurdles, sometimes, she asks for help from kids in the neighborhood and she gave them snacks in exchange. Her niece accompanies her everywhere and buys her maintenance medicines. Even Magondaya’s neighbors drop by regularly to buy her palapa so she didn’t have to go outside.

Aside from facing financial difficulties, she was also grieving her husband’s death. Without her community’s support, Magondaya wouldn’t have survived.

Under the Strengthening Urban Preparedness through Pre-emptive Action in BARMM (SUPPA-BARMM), members of the vulnerable sector, such as senior citizens like Magondaya, are entitled to cash assistance to help cope with the effects of the pandemic. 

The cash assistance could not have come at a better time for Magondaya, because much of her time was also spent taking care of her dying husband.

“I was able to afford rice, sugar, and other basic necessities at a time when I couldn’t”, Magondaya recalled. She’s grateful for the support as she doesn’t receive any pension from the government or even a senior citizen card which could have given her discounts. For many senior citizens like her, the bureaucracy of the application is too arduous that she would rather not avail of it at all. 

When her husband died, she was forced to adjust again. The constant recalibrations in her everyday life took a toll on her emotional and mental state, but she didn’t give up.

“I am poor and did not finish school, so there are very little opportunities for me,” said Magondaya and receiving the financial assistance at a difficult time in her life has helped ease her burdens.

SUPPA-BARMM is a joint project of IDEALS, Inc., PDRRN, Humanity & Inclusion, and OXFAM funded by European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid. The project aims to improve disaster preparedness and decrease the vulnerability of highly at-risk communities in the cities of Cotabato and Marawi in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. At present, 200 beneficiaries in Cotabato City and 227 beneficiaries in Marawi City have received COVID-19 cash assistance.