Ben Deciar, a 43 year-old resident of Brgy. Sapang, Talim Island, is often described as a family man by his peers in every sense of the word. Except that he doesn’t have his own family to support.

“Binata pa po ako ngunit tinutulungan ko po sa mga araw-araw na gastusin ang mga magulang ko at mga kapatid ko lalo na po ang nakababata kong kapatid na babae,” he shared, talking about his younger sister who is a single mother of two.

“Ako po ang tumatayong ama ng dalawa kong pamangkin na nasa elementarya. Mahirap at nakakapagod ngunit iniisip ko ang kinabukasan nila kaya nagpupursige ako sa trabaho ko. Masaya ako at natutulungan ko sila,” Deciar continued.

Fortunately, since 2009, Deciar is blessed with a job in Tiberiade Community Foundation, Inc. (TCFI) ñ a community livelihood venture specializing in crafts made out of bamboo which is growing abundantly in the island.

As a product development officer, he is in charge of checking the quality of the bamboo products created by his colleagues. These products ranging from lamps, display boxes and decor balls, to name a few, are top of the line ñ thanks to the production team’s expertise and an air compressor’s capacity.

“Sa natanggap naming grant mula sa One Meralco, bumili kami ng malaki at bagong air compressor para mapabilis at mapaganda ang finishing ng aming mga produkto,” said TCFIís livelihood manager Jerwin Fulay, explaining where they used the PhP 20,000 award given to them by the Foundation under its community grants program.

“Malaking tulong ang air compressor na ito sa aming produksiyon. Noon, kami ay nagrerenta ng air compressor sa halagang PhP 200. Ngayon, higit pa sa halagang ito ang kinikita ng bawat manggagawa rito,” Fulay happily shared.

“Nagpapasalamat ako sa TCFI dahil hindi ko magagampanan ang aking pagtulong sa aking pamilya kung hindi dahil sa trabaho ko,” said Deciar. “Lubos rin akong nagpapasalamat sa One Meralco dahil sa tulong na binigay nila sa aming mga taga-TCFI,” he continued.