When women are not just mothers but also leaders

BABY Agana and Edna Santos showed up at the Lubao gymnasium to take on community work. Agana, who makes sampaguita garlands, and Santos, an Aeta farmer, joined more than 1,200 women from Lubao, Floridablanca and Sasmuan towns in Pampanga province who signed up for the provincial government’s Nanay (Mothers) Community Volunteers Program (NCVP).

Gov. Lilia Pineda initiated the program to increase the participation of women in the disaster preparedness and reproductive health program.

Launched at the end of July, the National Disaster Consciousness Month, the program has recruited 8,517 women aged 30 to 60 from the province’s four districts, according to Angelina Blanco, officer of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Asked why it was designed to lure volunteer-mothers, Pineda said: “Mothers are patient and loving. They hold their families together. But women are not just mothers. They can be community leaders as well.”

The volunteers are tasked with helping barangay councils in identifying and assisting sick people in their neighborhoods, in disseminating information on disaster risks and preparedness, and in advising girls against pregnancies.

During the launch, Blanco discussed with them the impact of disaster preparedness on the family and the community. Two doctors briefed them on women’s reproductive health.

Agana, 49, who lives in San Roque Dau village in Lubao, said she agreed to help because her family would benefit from a peaceful and safe community.

Santos, in her 30s, said her village Nabuklod in Floridablanca accepts women as leaders. “Aeta men treat their women equally so I am not afraid to be of help in our community,” she said.