Talaingod, Davao Del Norte (DSWD XI) – Located 89 kilometers north of Davao City, the municipality of Talaingod boasts of rich natural resources that abound its 6,000 hectares of forest suitable for rubber, pineapple, rice, abaca, and corn farming.

But the living conditions of the Manobos in the municipality are a stark contrast to its rich natural resources.

Some people who are living in the remote areas here are deprived of their basic needs as services are generally poblacion-based.

To get to where these services are, the Manobos have to walk for two to three hours as transportation fare costs greater than the actual amount of money they have.

Kauyagan

Kauyagan, a Manobo word which means kaayohan or welfare, is an association situated in Brgy. Sto. Niño, Talaingod, Davao del Norte composing of 27 Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries of the Indigenous Peoples community of the Manobos, all having the desire to uplift their socio-economic conditions and doing it collectively.

With the intervention of the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the group was able to receive ₱270,000.00 as cash grant for its identified livelihood project of General Merchandise.

The association now boasts of its own general merchandise retailer located at the heart of the barangay where the members’ needs could be provided by their own products such as food, school supplies, clothes, toiletries, and many more.

This is not only open to the patronage of the members but also to other brothers and sisters in the Manobo community who live near the area so they would not have to spend huge amount of money for their transportation to the poblacion.

The beneficiaries’ primary needs are already accessible to them after the implementation of the project. This saves up the actual expense for transportation.

The Pantawid Pamilya cash grants intended for health, nutrition and education, are now used accordingly and the money they used for transportation before are now spent in buying other basic needs.

A beneficiary shared they would endure the two-hour walk so they can save up whatever money they have, for food.

This has been a sad reality to the Manobo beneficiaries in Talaingod, but the Kauyagan SLP Association General Merchandise became the answer to all their concerns.

This famous Filipino community attitude of bayanihan is apparent in the Kauyagan SLP Association as members yearn to improve their lives together.

From the actual building of the structure to the procurement of goods and up until now that they constantly meet to discuss certain issues and agreements for the benefit of the association, truly, progress knows no distance when everyone unites and hits the same goal. (DSWD)