A Mother’s Love”

“Finishing school was one of my dreams as a child, but my family could not afford it, we lived by working on sugarcane farms and I even worked as a household help to provide for my family,” shared Lagrimas “Lory” Luston, a local from La Carlota City and a dungganon client of 19 years.

Her dream was then passed on to her future children but as she was starting a family of her own, raising four children proved to be difficult, but alas, her love and care for her children was far stronger than all the challenges in her life combined. She gave it her all to provide them with a brighter tomorrow.

Lory and her husband were both event photographers for weddings, graduation ceremonies, birthdays, and other events. She joined Dungganon and applied for loans because she wanted to grow her business and secure new cameras and computers which are essential to their work. All of these was because she wanted to send her children to school and for them to not go through the same hardships she experienced growing up.

Lory started a small piggery business on the side for additional income

“I don’t want my children to experience what I had to experience, I want them to live a better life,” said Lory as tears welled up in her eyes
She also recalled a memory when she had to bring her kids to work and ask them to stay on the side while she cover the event.

“I told my kids to just stay in the corner because their mama and papa still need to earn money for them,” Lory shared as her voice cracked and her tears went flowing.
She remembered how her kids behaved and never complained, this moment struck her the most, and left her with an extreme drive to do everything to change their lives.

Her hard work and dedication paid off as two of her children finished school; the eldest is now a seafarer while the other one is a teacher, who also happens to be one of our Dungganon Scholars.

“I’m thankful for my Mama, because I knew she never wanted us to experience the hardships she went through but it gave us more reason to return back all of their sacrifices for us,” an emotional Khryss Luston said, daughter of Lory, Dungganon scholar.

“Even though she keeps quiet about her problems, we know that her and papa was going through a lot, she never gave up and has always supported us,” said Khryss who couldn’t hold back her tears any longer, she added, “Mama would always tell us that if we want or need something, she will do her best to support us and give us anything we want.”

Mother and daughter Lory and Khryss in their Sari-Sari store. Khryss is also one of our Dungganon scholars.

A mother’s love is indeed powerful, Lory has shown this type of unconditional love for her family, especially her children.

Now, with less to worry about as her two children now have their respective jobs, Lory decided to apply for a Dungganon Housing Loan because she wanted to give her family a dignified home.

Lory recalled, “whenever it rained, we had to find a place inside our home without water leaks, it was really a challenging period in our lives.”

But now, with the housing loan, Lory started to rebuild her home, starting with the cemented home structure, windows and floor. She feels grateful that they are now able to live comfortably as there were no more roof leaks and her home is now strong enough to withstand typhoons.

Lory felt extremely happy to see her home she once dreamed turn into a reality and what led to her achieving this is her unending love as a mother.

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