A jab for job

By Lorenzo Lambatin, Jr.

A mother of seven children, who is also a barangay tanod (village keeper), was ecstatic after a government physician gave her a certificate to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Requesting anonymity, 53-year-old Cora, expressed her elation that she can now finally have her protection against the dreaded virus.

For several months, she was stricken with asthma along with a bothersome goiter illness preventing her from taking the jab. Getting the jab means she will be able to safely move around somehow and find extra income.

Cora recalled a painful decision to go abroad to work as a cleaner in Abu Dhabi way back in 2010.

She had to feed seven kids and was separated from her husband.

The teary-eyed single mother related how she went through the pain of loneliness abroad and raising her kids “remotely” all by herself.

Close to a decade later in 2018, she was determined to go on with her life and return to the country. By then some of her children had already gotten married.

Only the three teenagers are now left under her care. The pandemic and the absence of a regular job exhausted her earnings that lead her to work as a barangay peacekeeper.

On November 18, she and her teenage daughter, attended the Bacolod City Police Office – led “Duterte Legacy: Barangayanihan Caravan Towards National Recovery” at Brgy. Alangilan, Bacolod City.

Cora availed of a free medical check-up and eventually got the approval to get a jab against COVID-19 while her child gets the chance to register in the national identification program.

After the check-up, she also received a little assistance consisting of rice, noodles, a sanitary kit and information materials.

She thanked the police, smilingly waved to this writer, and disappeared into the crowd.

The caravan gave hope to Cora that she could just be able to find other gainful ventures amid the pandemic. (PIA).