Empowered to Lead: Mary Joyโ€™s Journey from Participant to Community Champion through BULSA

“..๐š๐ฆ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐š ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐š๐ง. ๐ˆ ๐š๐ฅ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐š๐ค ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ๐Ÿ, ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ž๐œ๐ข๐๐ž ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ๐Ÿ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ก๐ž๐ฅ๐ฉ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ.”

Mary Joy Alarte is a resident of Tabgon, Caramoan, Camarines Sur and finding means for food and other needs has been very challenging for her and her family. When TOGETHER Project started their initiative on empowering women through BULSA (Barangay United Loan and Savings Association) she was one of that who participated and was willing to join. Now, she is a chairperson of a 23-member BULSA group that started last July 27, 2022.

Mary and her members are using BULSA for education needs, food, and health. When classes started she didn’t have a hard time buying the necessary supplies her children needed because of BULSA. Everyone in her community now is interested to join BULSA because they have seen the changes it did for Mary and the others.

“to have a group that becomes a way for an easily accessible and sustainable budget that can be used for the needs of our families and even as means of livelihood. It has boosted my self-confidence. My personality was empowered and now I know that I am not just a woman. I also have the power to speak for myself, to decide for myself and my family, and help in the future of my family.”

BULSA is one of the activities of the Together (Uniting Towards Gender Equality for Enjoyment of Women’s and Girls’ Total Health and Rights) Project in Camarines Sur. Together is a project in partnership with ADRA and the Canadian Government based in Naga City.