MARAWI CITY – Forward and onward. This is how Alioden Usman Mapandi describes everything that has taken place in his family whose stainless bed and brass shop business still continued despite experiencing the terrors of the Marawi siege.
It has become part of Alioden’s daily routine after praying “Fajr” at early dawn to proceed to his shop and see to it that all materials are secured and ready while his wife would be preparing their children for school.
This has been Alioden’s day for more than 20 years. However, the routine got altered for a time when the siege broke out.
The regular operations of one of the best-selling steel shops in Barangay Sabala Manao had to stop doing its business.
Starting anew, Alioden tried to revive what was lost. Not only was he able to bring back to life his stainless-steel shop, but he was also able to help give life to five of his fellow internally displaced persons whom he employed as assistant laborers.
The job opportunity provided them has truly been beneficial to support the needs of their respective families.
“All of these are the result of my sweat and blood, and my strong determination to work harder for my beloved children and to my ever-supportive wife,” Alioden said.
Alioden is one of the beneficiaries of the Sustainable Livelihood Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. (DSWD/PIA ICIC)
