The Courage of a Woman

Posted on June 1, 2022

Despite the many setbacks in her life, Airene Digno from Boracay Island decided to face life with courage. A member of CARD Bank, she established her own mini-store after her previous work became affected by the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and finding out about her health condition.

Some people may think that being courageous means having no fears. But in reality, courageous people are the ones who have fears but have the willingness to face them.

At the age of 37 years old, Airene Digno has already experienced a great deal of challenges in her life. Hailing from Boracay Island in the province of Aklan, she is a mother of five children whose former job was a therapist. Common to many whose work are related to tourism, she was affected by the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The lesser the tourists who visited the island, the lesser her income became as a therapist.

This was also the time when she found that she has a heart disease. Their family’s savings were exhausted because she had been in the hospital for her treatment for several months. Many would lose heart at this point, but Airene still took courage.

She turned her story around and decided to define her own destiny. She became a member of CARD Bank, a microfinance-oriented rural bank under CARD MRI. Airene borrowed money from CARD and used it as a capital to start her own sari-sari store. Now, this store has become their family’s source of income. Through CARD Bank, Airene also learned how to use and manage their family’s budget wisely and effectively.

Being a member of CARD was indeed a big help to her and her family in supporting their daily needs. Her life situation and health condition did not hinder her in empowering herself and making a way to get out of poverty. The products offered by CARD Bank like loan and savings has helped not only for the development of her business but also for the education of her children.

According to Airene, “We have to embrace our weaknesses and our challenges because it will lead us to our dreams. It is important to be more resilient and courageous in the face of adversity.”