Hello #Hive!
The last #WhoAreTheyPhilippines feature (WATP #18) was a success, being the highest payout since I started this initiative. As you can see in the reward video Rosalie didn't expect me to come back to give her that much money. She got a little bit overwhelmed and teary eyed but I could feel that she was happy and that this reward was a great help for her and her family. This motivated me to get on my scooter again and find another person to interview and help.
I first headed on the main road towards Badian and from there I started my way on the back roads going towards the mountain. Quickly the road changed from concrete to dirt road, then rocky, from very wide to one car wide to just a one person trail. Along the way, there were several houses, or shall I say huts. The view towards the sea though only kept getting better and better.
I met several persons along the way, a few of them I talked to about their garden or simply asked for directions or where the trail was leading me, but I didn't get the feeling that these were the persons I should feature.
Two hours after starting my journey, I got back on a main road and thought that I might have to head home and postpone my search until another day. This is when I saw this hut on the side of the road. A young lady was looking out through the window opening and I saw a man sitting inside through the door opening. I continued my journey a bit further but somehow I couldn't help thinking about the hut. After about 5 minutes, I decided to turn around and go talk to the girl and the man.
This is how I met Norito.
Who is Norito
Norito is a 46 year old man who was born and raised in Barangay Sulsogan, Badian. His family was poor and he started working in the fields at a very young age. He only went to school a couple of years and dropped out after elementary.
23 years ago, he met Fernanda who is also from Barangay Sulsogan. They are not married but together, they have 6 children. Four girls and two boys aged 23 to 9. Three of them still live in the family hut with Norito and Fernanda. The eldest, Jody Ann was the young lady I had seen through the window opening. She's living in Dumanjug, a municipality about 20-30km away and she was visiting her parents. Even though her English was very limited, she helped me a bit with getting answers to my questions from her father.
Both Norito and Fernanda are farmers. They cultivate corn on a land nearby. They do not own the field and so a part of their harvest is given to the owner as a compensation. I understood that it is 3% which from my knowledge is not much considering that I have heard of owners charging as much as 50% sometimes.
They try to sell most of the harvest as this is their only revenue. However they do keep a bit for their own consumption. They do raise a few chickens for the meat but Jody Ann explained to me that there are times when there isn't any food to put on the table. During those times, they can't even afford to buy rice and so they would harvest some sweet potato leaves or any other kind of leaves or grass and make a soup with them.
This is one those times. Last January and February south Cebu was hit with a lot of rain which was very unusual for this time of the year. Sadly, all this water destroyed the crops as it started rotting, leaving them with very little to harvest.
This is when I realized how life can be really hard for them at times. Yet, when you see them, you wouldn't know. They are all smiling and appear to be a happy family without problems.
When I asked Norito what is dream would be if anything was possible, I was expecting the usual answer I get, which is an easier and more comfortable life. But I was wrong. He's words were "I'm contented with my life". I can't help and ask myself though why such answer. Is it because he really doesn't need much and is really satisfied with the little he has or is it because he doesn't know better being from a poor and struggling family?
He doesn't have any hobby and simply spends his free time resting at home with his family. On rare occasions he would spend time drinking with his few friends. His favorite times are the birthdays of the family because everybody is present and they try to celebrate them together the best they can.
I felt very much at ease with Norito, his wife Fernanda, his eldest Jody Ann and his youngest daughter. I was welcomed into their hut and had a great time chatting with them. It wasn't easy to communicate because of the language barrier but we managed with a bit of Tagalog and English. I'm hoping for a good post payout because I really feel like they are kind and genuine people who deserve a bit of help.
This is it for Norito's feature. To contribute to his reward, please upvote this post and share it with your followers by reblogging it.
Thank you all again for your support and see you next week for another feature.
What is #WhoAreTheyPhilippines?
#WhoAreTheyPhilippines is a project which aims at sharing Hive cryptocurrency rewards with Filipinos. Every week a person within the Philippines is randomly selected. Our interviewer asks him/her some questions and takes a few pictures before writing a feature and posting it on the Hive PH Community. After 7 days, when the author reward can be claimed, the HBD payout amount along with some contributions from fellow Hivers are converted to the local currency (PHP). Our interviewer then makes his way back to this person and hands over the total amount to him/her.
We are very thankful to all of you for your support, upvotes and contributions. We are also glad this initiative is well received.
Check out the previous editions here:
WATP #1 - Ernesto The BladeSmith and Ernesto's HBD Reward
WATP #2 - Marito The Trisikad Driver
WATP #3 - Pampilo The Vulcanizer
WATP #4 - Virgilia The Sari-sari Store Owner
WATP #5 - Eliza The Plant Seller
WATP #6 - Kris The Street Food Seller
WATP #7 - Claudia & Rosalina The Homemakers
WATP #8 - Trinidad The laundrywoman
WATP #9 - Alfredo The Retired Fisherman
WATP #10 - Mark The Construction Worker
WATP #11 - Bitiliana the Malunggay and Lemongrass Seller
WATP #12 - Alexous the Fisherman
WATP #13 - Arjay the Buko Vendor
WATP #14 - Lynmae the Street Food Seller
WATP #15 - Jaynelyn the Stay at Home Mum
WATP #16 - Elvish & Knizalyn a Couple From Badian
WATP #17 - Special Edition: For the victims of Typhoons Goni and Vamco
WATP #18 - Rosalie the Farmer