Ailyn Durano is a 31 year old mother with four children from Sibagat, Agusan del Sur. She has been raising her children alone since April 2009.

Ailyn sadly narrated the night when she wearily waited until morning for her husband to come home from work but no one arrived. “Sa akong nadunggan nga isturya gikan sa iyang kauban sa trabaho ay ni uban daw siya sa iyang babae. Sakit gyud kaayu  pero ang akong gika gul-an kay ang akong mga anak nga gi biya-an sa ilang amahan (From what I’ve heard from his co-workers, he eloped with his other woman. Being cheated on was indeed painful, but what hurt me most was the fact that my husband abandoned our children and left them with nothing),” lamented Ailyn.

Raising children alone is not an easy task, especially for Ailyn, who has no stable source of income. She has been coping with her desperate situation with the help of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). 4Ps is a poverty reduction program that provides conditional cash grants to extremely poor households to improve their health, nutrition and education. Ailyn has been a 4Ps beneficiary since August 2008, and she receives P1,400 per month. 

“Maski wala na ang akong bana, naa man ang tabang nga gikan sa atong gobyerno para sa amo nga mga pobre, kining 4Ps. Ang kwarta nga akong nadawat gikan sa 4Ps mao akong gigamit sa pag paskwela sa mga bata” (Even without my husband, I am able to support my children with the help of the government’s program for the poor, the 4Ps. With the cash subsidy I receive from the program, I am able to send my children to school),” Ailyn said finding a bit of hope amidst the depressing reality.

Recently, Ailyn has found other means of subsistence, “I have a vegetable garden in our backyard where I get our supply of vegetables. It lessen our food expenses and allows me to serve nutritious food to my family,” shared Ailyn adding that it will keep her from serving canned goods and junk foods.
Ailyn is working hard to be both mother and father to her four children. She stated that she doesn’t consider herself alone, she has four angels from whom she gets the strength to stand firm while facing life’s challenges. Although still hurting from the pain of being left for another woman, Ailyn is determined to give her children the future she has always dreamed for them. With 4Ps as her partner, there is surely a brighter future ahead. ### (4Ps Social Marketing Unit)