Everything changed after KAISAHAN’s engagement with our organization. There was a change on how government agencies treated us. They used to see us as illiterate individuals, and we can feel that on the way they talked to us.

Whenever we follow up on the status of our claims, our dialogues just go in circles, and we could not get a direct answer from them. But after learning about the technical parts of agrarian reform through our paralegal trainings, we can now have a more informed dialogue with them. They know that we understand the process so they now explain everything to us more clearly. We became more persistent in raising our concerns since we know our rights and that what we’re doing is all legal.

We got installed in 2018, and ever since we started cultivating our own land, we are spending more time with our families.

The trainings also helped our members to appreciate our advocacies more. We, as paralegals, also share our knowledge with other farmers who are not members of HASADIWA. Every effort we do for land rights is no longer only for our personal interests, but to help our fellow farmers as well. 

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