OUR HIGALA STORY

Andam Higala (Philippine dialectal term; Andam - to equip/prepare, Higala - a term used to refer to a friend, person, or citizen) was a nonprofit and youth-led organization that envisioned being health and security defenders of women and children. Founded by Herna Francis Mae B. Tano and Ma. Alexandrea P. Portillo on April 19, 2020, it was established out of the concern of the youth scholars to the vulnerable sectors of the community of Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines during the COVID-19 outbreak. It began by giving attention to the women and children as these sectors face unique challenges in a time of crisis. From its establishment, it was operated by two (2) youth volunteer individuals (the founders), and then joined by other five (5) pioneers, and continued to expand its pool of volunteers for project implementations.

It started out by giving sanitary health kits and laymanized brochures to the identified beneficiaries from the vulnerable communities in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. A project revamp had then officially recognized two (2) of the organization’s flagship programs– Andam Eba (eba-woman) for the women and Andam Eskwela (eskwela-school) for the children. An annual event, Santa Higala is one of its pay-it-forward activities which is a fundraising activity for a gift-giving by the year-end.

Certified as Andam Higala Inc. by the Securities Exchange and Commission in 2023, it is a non-stock and non-profit organization for youth empowerment and social entrepreneurship, with the mission of equipping women with skills for economic development. It is also a locally registered organization through the Oro Youth Development Office of Cagayan de Oro City and a nationally registered organization at the Youth Organization Registration Program by the National Youth Commission.

In April 2020, the organization started a donation drive of sanitary kits that provide the needs of women and children in marginalized and rural communities in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines. According to the Population Commission, the teenage pregnancy rate in Cagayan de Oro in 2020 was 44 births per 1,000 female adolescents aged 15-19. This is higher than the national teenage pregnancy rate of 38 births per 1,000 female adolescents aged 15-19. These are just a few of the problems faced by an “Eba” during the pandemic and from this, was the birth of project Andam Eba to empower women in a time of crisis.

Andam Higala aimed to give awareness through the conduct of the Andam Eba 1.0 webinar series for the teenage mothers of Cagayan de Oro City on August 26-27, 2020. This immediate response aimed to re-educate about reproductive health and their rights, raise awareness on underlying issues during the pandemic and create health and security conversations with experts. From the feedback of the participants— the major challenge faced was financial insecurity. 

Andam Eba 2.0 was a capability-building and financial-enabling project for the scholar-mothers of Cagayan de Oro City (CDO) during this time of pandemic. The project provided a series of livelihood skills training and business development workshops. Out of 38 beneficiaries for the capability-building series, there were 15 teenage mothers granted start-up funds for the implementation of their business plans. Seven (7) of them exceeded the expected success indicator of a 10% increase in their net income and there were three (3) microbusinesses qualified fo additional livelihood assistance from City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) and for Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for business name legalization. 

In the 3rd implementation, the team adopted a small barrio located in Barangay Consolacion near the riverbanks of metropolitan Cagayan de Oro, known as Isla Bugnaw. It is a region of predominantly quarrymen, equipped with rudimentary boats and grovels, anchored on collecting riverbank sediments at the bottom of the Cagayan River that allows for the only livelihood that supports their families. In addition, 60% of their spouses are housewives, unemployed due to the lack of job opportunities, low educational attainment, and maternal obligations that highlight the dependence on a singular income stream. With innovation, Andam Eba Program was implemented after the community scanning and iterated the structure to tailor-fit the needs of our community partners.

The organization pivoted to implementing income-generating opportunities and explorinng different revenue streams to sustain the operations and significantly aim towards equipping women with skills for economic development.