Villagers get gift packs from Australian firm

CEBU CITY—An Australian firm has made Christmas a bit happier for the poor in Barangay Calawisan, Lapu-Lapu City.

For Agapito Berdon and his family, it means spaghetti and ham that they would share to celebrate the birth of Christ in their shanty in Calawisan.

The Austrialian firm Wellness and Lifestyle Australian distributed gift packs to Berdon and 109 other beneficiaries at the Calawisan gymnasium on Friday morning.

This is the firm’s way of giving back to the community, said company representative Shaira Kaye Berame.

The firm, which provides physiotherapy service, also trains nurses to prepare them for employment in Australia.

Berame said their managers had been visiting their Mandaue City office since it opened in July and saw the shanties located before the First Mactan-Mandaue Bridge and the Marcelo Fernan Bridge, which connect mainland Cebu to Mactan Island.

“During their visits, they see the shanties located below the (Mactan-Cebu) bridges and decided to give food packs to selected families as a Christmas present.

Berame said company personnel in Australia contributed at least $10 each to help raise money for Friday’s gift-giving activity.

The village was selected because its officials readily agreed to use the gym in the gift distribution, she added.

Berdon admitted that life had been difficult for him and his family since he could no longer move his right arm after suffering a stroke over a year ago.

He could no longer drive his tricycle, his only means of livelihood. Berdon said he used to earn P400 a day, ferrying passengers from Barangay Calawisan to the city proper and back on his tricycle.

He, his wife and three children had to rely on the salary of Jennifer, their second child who works as a waitress in a restaurant in Barangay Maribago, Lapu-Lapu.

Berdon has five children but the eldest is now married and can no longer help them. His wife, Julita, 40, is also unemployed.

Berdon said they have to make do with the P1,000 that Jennifer would give them every pay day.

He was thankful that there were people willing to share their blessings to the less fortunate.