Mothers, Work, and the Quiet Power of Support

There are many words to describe a mother, but one description captures volumes—matiisin. 

We all know it when we see it. The patience that is borne out of love, reminiscent of the biblical term longsuffering. It means bearing with something (or someone!) partly by choice, and partly by circumstance. It’s moving through challenges with quiet discipline, without letting the weight of it show too much.

Filipino mothers know that by heart. 

This Mother’s Day, it’s worth pausing to see what fuels this unique characteristic: work, intelligence, love, and grit, often all at once.

When life shifts

Jenelyn did not plan for widowhood. When her husband died suddenly in May 2024, she was left to raise two daughters on her own—Janine, 4, and Janel, 11.

Grief rearranges a life in ways that are hard to describe. Children still need breakfast. School still starts in the morning.

Thankfully, Jenelyn had already taken one important step toward independence even before the loss of her husband. In 2022, she joined a World Vision livelihood training and learned hair cutting, coloring, and rebonding. She also received a ₱5,000 grant to buy equipment. What began as a small effort became a business, and then a source of stability.

The income is modest, about ₱1,000 to ₱1,800 per service. But it keeps her daughters in school and the household afloat. “Now I have loyal customers,” she shares with joy. “When they want to be dolled up and have their hair styled, they would go straight to me.”

Jenelyn works hard to make sure her daughters can get an education. “I dream for my two daughters to finish their schooling,” she says. “That’s the greatest gift I can impart to them.” 

Her youngest already has her own dreams. “I want to build a big house for my mama,” Janine says. Her older sister, Janel, already understands how much their mother has sacrificed for them. “I am proud of my mother because she takes good care of us,” she shares.

It is a simple kind of admiration, but it says more than any polished tribute could.

The path to leadership

Jessica’s story begins in a different place. She was a housewife with three children, helping her husband make ends meet by running a small sari-sari store. It was practical and helped the family get by.

Then World Vision’s SWEET program reached her community in southern Cebu. SWEET stands for Sustaining Women’s Economic Empowerment Thrust, and for Jessica, it became a doorway into something larger. She and a few other mothers received training to run a local cooperative (co-op) for their community. The aim is to offer sustainable financial services, as well as support for livelihood opportunities.

World Vision spent a year training Jessica and other coop officers. Today, the 52-year-old mother is president of the Alcantara, Ronda, Moalboal Credit Cooperative, or ARMCC. The co-op serves three municipalities and supports 527 members. She works with other officers to run a rice business and a basket-weaving livelihood group, as well as a savings group. ARMCC is giving families practical ways to earn, save, and borrow with more confidence.

Helping the light burn brighter

Philippine culture has long honored mothers as the light of the home or ilaw ng tahanan. It is a beautiful expression, but it can hide something important. It can end the discussion with showing admiration, without asking mothers what they need to thrive.

Many of us have seen or even lived it ourselves: mothers are capable, determined, and resourceful. What they sometimes lack is not strength. It is access.

A small amount of support can make a mother’s strengths even more effective. A training program,  a small grant, a cooperative—these may seem simple, but they can dramatically change the equation. When a mother earns more, her children benefit. When mothers are given tools to stand on firmer ground, families become more stable. When a woman is empowered to lead, her community gains more than a leader. 

Empowering mothers is where change starts to multiply.

What mothers ask for

The mothers in these stories were not asking to be rescued. They were looking for the same things most people want for the people they love: more security, more room to grow, more options for the future. And World Vision is walking alongside them in their quest for growth.

To the mothers in our communities, in our partner areas, and in our own homes: we see your work. We know what it costs. And we believe in what you are building.

Happy Mother’s Day.