By Virgenia Oral Vidad

The Beneficiaries

Virgie’s involvement with the Columbans started when she was in college. She used to go with Fr Don Kill in selling and promoting Misyon on Sundays. She joined the Columban Familia Misyon under Columban Sister Tammy Saberon. It was an organization of college students who volunteered to visit children with disabilities in Ozamiz City in their homes. She now works with the Pedaling to Live community set up by Columban Fr Oliver McCrossan.

Father Oli with children in the community.

I come from a very poor family in Ramon Magsaysay, Zamboanga del Sur, my father being a farmer. He worked very hard to provide us with food. He usually woke up at 4am to work. My mother took care of us while we were studying. Sometimes she would help my father on the farm. At weekends my brothers and I would help him, especially during the planting and harvesting seasons. I can’t imagine how I survived the heat of the sun during the planting season.

When I was eleven I left home and went to Buug, Zamboanga del Sur, with my brother and was in Grade Six in Buug Elementary School. That was my first time to sleep without my mother beside me, a very painful year that helped me to grow more mature. I finished high school as a working student in Sominot National High School. I stayed in the house of one of my teachers so I didn’t have to spend for daily transportation. In spite of these difficulties in my elementary and high school years, I was determined to pursue college.

In June 1993 I enrolled for a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at Immaculate Conception College, Ozamiz City (now La Salle University). I graduated as a working scholar in October 1997 and the following month started as a secretary of the President of the school.

In 1999 I began work with the Community of Hope Special Education Center, under the Columban Sisters, which is for children with different disabilities. That was very challenging for me since I didn’t have any experience in this area. But Sister Clement Sheehy helped me and sent me for further training. I worked at the Center for five years during which I learned to give importance to the less privileged.

Full view of green shelter

Though I was a full-time staff member I was also a volunteer in Fr Oliver McCrossan’s Pedaling to Live project. Sister Clement went to Ireland for good and a new administration was set up at the Center. Due to lack of funds there was a retrenchment. I lost my job and it wasn’t easy. I was helping my sister through college at the time.

But God is good. I received a phone call from Fr McCrossan who was in Ireland. He asked me if I would like to work with him. I immediately accepted without asking what my work was going to be. When he arrived back in Ozamiz in 2004, I started working with him. He said, ‘We don’t have an office. All you have to do is to work in the community, especially with the tricycle drivers’. I was shocked, I had no idea where and how to start.

Working with Fr Oli and in the community of the tricycle drivers wasn’t just ordinary work. I was happy being with the families. Seeing their smiles every time I met them told me that the project was a great help to them.

In 2006, I married Bodoy. We’ve been blessed with two children, a girl and a boy. I usually leave them at 7:30 in the morning and go home at 5 or 6 in the evening. It’s not easy to be a working mother. I know at their age my children still need my time so I try to make my free time meaningful to them. Sometimes I bring my older child to the community of the pedicab drivers for her to understand the nature of my job. It’s hard to balance my time, especially as my husband is also working and can come home only at weekends. I try as much as I can to bring my daughter to school before I go to work and fetch her at noon.

Virgie and Bodoy with their children.

I read stories to my kids before bedtime. Every Sunday is our family day. After Mass we go for lunch and then to the Cotta Shrine or the playground. For me the week is not complete if I can’t spend time with my family on Sundays. Watching my kids playing wipes away my tiredness. I am very thankful to my husband for his understanding about the kind of work I have. The success that we’ve made with the project really makes me happy. At the end of the day I always thank the Lord for giving me strength, especially during tough times.

My commitment and love for my job motivate me in giving of my best. This is not only for my own family, but for those of the Pedaling to Live drivers. Their laughter gives me strength to work hard. Listening to their struggles in life gives me inspiration to keep going. I am very thankful that I was given the opportunity to work with them. Because I am from a poor family I want to be involved with people who are less fortunate.

The dream of our families in the community to have a decent home and live harmoniously has come true! Before Father Oli left for Ireland last year, we had only eight units built but now we have 14. The houses are made from local materials: clay, rice straw, rice husks. We call them earthen buildings. We encourage the beneficiaries to help in constructing them. We call this ‘pahina’, working together as a way of building strong relationships with each other. A small multi-purpose hall with two bedrooms and a kitchen has also been completed. It is used for meetings and recollections. Part of it serves as a playroom for the children.

An orientation seminar on policies and regulations is conducted for new members of the housing project. The elected officers have regular monthly meetings to discuss plans and improvements in the community. Recently, officers and other beneficiaries participated in an organizational management skills training workshop. Partners from other non-government organizations helped us in this. We also organized local benefactors to be part of the project, to ensure not only the financial welfare of the members but, most importantly, their spiritual well-being.

After six years in the Pedaling to Live project I can say my job is very fulfilling. I am very thankful to the Columbans, especially Father Oli. I’ve learned a lot from him, his patience, his respect for others, his humility and how he values little things. We are working hand in hand with people from other countries who are also helping to make this work a success.