Becoming a parent may have brought profound changes in one’s personal life especially when you are trying to adapt the new challenges physically, emotionally and even financially.

Lara Jane Mejica, 31 years old from Caloocan City was a former sophomore nursing student when she got pregnant at the age of 22. Since then, she just stayed at home for more than 8 years taking care of her two children ages 9 and 7. Her husband worked as a sales clerk but only on a contractual basis and the income was not sufficient. “Masakit sa damdamin bilang isang magulang, na hindi maibigay ang mga pangangailangan ng kanyang mga anak”.

Aside from that, the family is living in a disputed area that is currently under a court case by a private individual resulting to limited means of living such as transportation, development of physical resources, and even threats to be evacuated from their area.

In November 2016, Lara Jane participated in DSWD-NCR Sustainable Livelihood Program’s (SLP) community-based free skills training under Employment Facilitation Track for security guards. This was in partnership with CMP Federal Security Agency. At first, Lara was hesitant to join the training since getting out of her comfort zone for almost 8 years needs a lot of courage and determination especially in pursuing once dream and ambition.

Despite of her daily struggle as a mother while facing financial difficulties, Lara persevered and finally completed the training. Through this training and successful partnership, she was able to find employment right away in Wilcon Builders Inc.

Today, she is very proud and thankful that she was able to earn as much as Php 20,000.00 monthly. This financial success greatly supports their family’s capacity to provide their necessities especially for her children. Through her job, she is also secured with her monthly contributions in SSS, Philhealth and Pagibig, some of the benefits that she will earn in the future. Earning this amount was just a dream before and now turned into reality. Lara Jane Mejica, a simple mother before can now secure the future of her family.

“Bilang isang babae, dapat nag go-grow tayo at hindi natatapos sa apat na sulok lamang ng tahanan. Dapat sa sarili natin, matuto tayong mag pursige para sa ikauunlad ng ating pamilya. Kinaya ko ang pagbabago! Salamat, SLP!

For Lara, doing her duty at work is not just simply guarding her workplace but also means guarding her family’s future!