(written by Joshua Mercado)

Sa tanan miyembro aning Safe Young Organic Farmers, si Ressie pa akong nakita nga kaya na mubuhi ug bana ug magsugod na sa kaugalingong pamilya,” (Among the youth who are members of the Safe Young Organic Farmers, Ressie can already live with a husband and start a family.) Ms. Marivic Tagupa of SAFEGCC jokingly said about Ressie during our visit to SAFEGCC, Inc. in Rosario, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental.

Such confidence for Ressie was very apparent from the people surrounding her due to her industriousness and diligence in her endeavor---that is rice farming. But before she established herself as a very diligent lady in farming, she was once a very low esteemed girl searching for her role and niche in the society, looking for belongingness, and pursued something which she did not passionately desired. She was chasing an illusion she though she could catch, but was elusive enough to grasp. Here is her story on how she seized an opportunity that was already available to her, but turned a blind eye to it.

The Rough Beginning

Ressie Umaran was born and raised in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental. Her parents were caretakers of a hectare of rice field. She was second among the four children. At a very young age, she was hardened in the rice field. “I grew up seeing my parents tilling the rice field. I told myself ‘I will not do it.’ Its very labor intensive, the heat is scorching, and very tiring,” she explained. “But I have no choice. Farming is the work that gives food in our mouth. So, I have to help my parents in the rice field and do the things they do in there,” she added.
Things got rougher when her mother left when Ressie was 12. She had to work double time to make ends meet.

A Glimpse of Hope

After graduating in high school in 2008, Ressie visited the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Family. She aspired to be one of them. But willing to finish her studies, she went to Blessed Mother College in Cagayan de Oro City as a working student enrolled in the course of Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education.
Yet, longing for her mother, she stopped going to school and went to Manila to visit her. In 2009, she returned from Manila, and worked as a sales lady in a mall in Cagayan de Oro City for a few months. Unfulfilled by the type of work she was doing, she returned to the to the convent as aspirant in 2010. She continued her studies and enrolled in Bukidnon State University with the course on Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education.
In 2012, she became a full-fledged postulant while studying in Lourdes College in Cagayan de Oro City taking up the course on Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education, Major in Values Education until she became a novice.
But she was still unfulfilled with what she was doing. It was not the vocation and calling she wanted to pursue. She still felt something void. Wanting to fill the voidness and to really make sure that it is the calling she wanted to follow, she left the convent in 2014 and assimilated in the outside world.

The Lost Self–Esteem

As she continued to search the thing that can fill the void, she decided to do business with a multi-level sales company producing health supplements. She became a sales agent selling food supplements and other products from that company. She continued for several months but she stopped. Still, it is not the career she wanted to follow. It did not fill in the void. She does not find fulfillment on what she was doing. She decided to stop.

“That time, I thought that it was the lowest point in my life. I thought I achieved nothing. I have been in many schools, changing courses. But I did not finish even one. I tried to do business but I am not fulfilled. It is not what I want. I thought of myself as a failure,” she murmured.
With the little savings she earned as sales agent and left with no other choice, she returned home in Balingasag to do what she shunned – farming.

A Tough Restart

As Ressie returned home, she rented a two (2) hectare rice field using her small savings and started farming. She applied the old methods and techniques she learned from the practices she knew. She underwent trainings from various government agencies but the they were not aligned in rice farming. “It was tough. With the old practices and methods in rice farming applied, I earned the same. Although not in the losing end, I earned less and again, make ends meet. No additional income, no savings,” she told.
But things started to turn around when she was invited by the Local Government Unit of Baligasag to join the 4H Club.

The Redemption

In 2017, Ressie became a participant of the Binhi ng Pag-asa Training Program spearheaded by the Agricultural Training Institute in coordination with the LGU of Balingasag. Participants were select members of 4H Club who are active in agriculture and farming. There, she met ATI. “I was very thankful to the LGU of Balingasag for inviting me to be a member of the 4H Club. Because of that I learned about ATI,” she said. “It was life changing! When we went and toured to the different Learning Sites (for Agriculture) of ATI, a perk after the Binhi ng Pag-Asa training, I was in awe of the technologies demonstrated by the farmers. We visited Jaya Secret Garden, Engallado’s Farm, Cervantes Square Foot Garden, Buhian Diversified Farm, Queensland Herbs and Tourist Farm, iFarm, JPL Farm, and Jika Farm, among others. I thought ‘This is what I am searching! I want to learn more from them!’” she exclaimed with full enthusiasm. From such connection, Ressie has accessed many trainings and programs of ATI.
She then participated to the Training of Trainers on Hybrid Rice Production, and Climate Smart Farm Business School, now aligned with the commodity she is focused – Rice Farming. She said that because her exposure to various farms and joining in different ATI trainings, she learned and applied it to her 2- hectare farm. “I applied technologies like integrated rice farming where I planted different high value crops like cucumber, sitaw, okra, and leafy green vegetables in the rice field. It added additional income to me and my family. Further, I applied the rice farming technologies which I learned from various Learning Sites I visited. It greatly reduced my production cost and increased my farm yield,” she added.
She further joined more ATI trainings like Cacao Production and Processing, Chocolate Making, and just recently, the 2020 Kapatid Agri Mentor Me Program (KAMMP) Online. “KAMMP Online really helped a lot. It made me realize the things that I will have to look to in order to improve further my farming practices,” she explained.

Looking Forward to the Future

Ressie recently joined the Safe Young Organic Farmers (SYOF) when she was a participant of the Farmers’ Field School in Farm Mechanization. SYOF was an organization organized by SAFEGCC, Inc., a corporation advocating for organic farming and trains youth to engage in organic agriculture. Because of such engagement, Ressie was luckily chosen and invited by IFOAM – Organics International to attend the Organic World Congress.

What else did I forget? Well, Ressie did not forget her self-improvement. Ignoring her age of 29, she braved up, composed herself and enrolled in the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP) – Claveria, Misamis Oriental Campus taking up Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. She is currently in her 2nd Year and is very determined to finish the course. “With the income I have now, I can provide for my family and at the same time, I can also provide for myself. There was a drastic change since I met ATI,” she said.
Ressie is a proof that failing is never permanent. No matter how many times you fall, if you are determined to stand up and continue moving forward, good things will eventually happen. Ressie is now an empowered woman oozing with self-confidence. Confident that whatever obstacle life may bring to her, she can overcome it. Indeed, as remarked earlier by Ms. Tagupa, “Kaya na niya mubuhi ug bana,” may eventually come as a reality in the near future. With just a single opportunity grabbed, the direction of her life changed 360 degrees. And just like cycling, the best view comes after the hardest climb.