You can Imagine the hardship of being "poor". yup! I know what it's like...going to school wearing the same shoes I had for years...can't afford to buy notebooks or a new bag. Recess time and i only have 50 cents on my hand. If I’m lucky....if not then I don't have anything at all. Weekends and there's no classes, I go around neighborhood selling banana or dried fish...sometimes bed mats, ("banig" in my native tongue) yelling..."buy this mats....It's big enough for 5 people!!! you all could fit in here....when you're standing!!!" lolz...or I offer to throw out neighbors garbage’s from their door way and being paid like 5 pesos (good enough for 10 pieces of bread). I dragged them far away down to the..........river....nyehehehe.
well I didn't know any better. I was like 9 or 10 yrs. old and I saw people do it. I thought it was ok..
I'm talking about this because I saw this news from the Philippines and It’s really inspiring...Gosh!
***Thousands of students from remote barangays (sections of a town) have to walk two or more kilometers of rough road to get to school. But there are also a handful who must swim the same distance, through the open sea, in order to get an education.
Jay Taruc (a newscaster) documents the unforgettable struggle of the Magalumbi island children of Iloilo. Queenche is 10 years old, Raul is 13, and along with their younger siblings, they swim home from school every single day.
Their fishermen fathers take them to the mainland via banca (small boat) in the morning. But after school, they must prepare themselves for the inevitable. As their parents are out making a living, the children must all swim home – a two kilometer stretch that takes them half an hour in good weather. The children are fearless as they brave the deep waters, that at certain points go all the way down to twenty feet. The younger ones hold onto a bamboo log for support in case they get tired. But jellyfish thrive in this sea in the months of June and July and the heavy rains that sometimes surprise them in the midst of their swim make the journey very dangerous. Unable to take their schoolbooks home with them, the kids have to bury their things under the sand every afternoon. In the morning, once they hit the beach, they quickly dig up their books and rush their assignments before getting to school.
It’s no wonder no child from Magalumbi has yet managed to graduate from high school. Queenche dreams of being the first, and of someday even making it to college...
Jay Taruc (a newscaster) documents the unforgettable struggle of the Magalumbi island children of Iloilo. Queenche is 10 years old, Raul is 13, and along with their younger siblings, they swim home from school every single day.
Their fishermen fathers take them to the mainland via banca (small boat) in the morning. But after school, they must prepare themselves for the inevitable. As their parents are out making a living, the children must all swim home – a two kilometer stretch that takes them half an hour in good weather. The children are fearless as they brave the deep waters, that at certain points go all the way down to twenty feet. The younger ones hold onto a bamboo log for support in case they get tired. But jellyfish thrive in this sea in the months of June and July and the heavy rains that sometimes surprise them in the midst of their swim make the journey very dangerous. Unable to take their schoolbooks home with them, the kids have to bury their things under the sand every afternoon. In the morning, once they hit the beach, they quickly dig up their books and rush their assignments before getting to school.
It’s no wonder no child from Magalumbi has yet managed to graduate from high school. Queenche dreams of being the first, and of someday even making it to college...
Good luck to you Quenche!
Poverty is not an excuse for a person to not reach his dreams 'coz I....entered high school w/out any money, I had to work for the school...cleaning all those classrooms every summer.. scrubbing the floors and walls. Imagine those wooden chairs I had to carry.... a hundred of them in one day... Then I went to college and entered University without any money.... I once again, worked as a student assistant. I attended school for free. Go Figure!-
Posted by: Sin Nombre
Poverty is not an excuse for a person to not reach his dreams 'coz I....entered high school w/out any money, I had to work for the school...cleaning all those classrooms every summer.. scrubbing the floors and walls. Imagine those wooden chairs I had to carry.... a hundred of them in one day... Then I went to college and entered University without any money.... I once again, worked as a student assistant. I attended school for free. Go Figure!-
Posted by: Sin Nombre
Glossary
**(Banig is a handwoven mat usually used for sleeping. Technically, it is not a textile. Depending on the region of the Philippines, the mat is made of palm (buri), pandan or sea grass leaves. The leaves are dried, usually dyed, then cut into strips and then woven into mats which could be plain or intricate. Above is a fine example of a buri mat woven by the Samals of Sulu - in this case, dyed strips of buri are woven to produce the design. Another region in the Philippines which is famous for intricately designed mats is Samar where the mats are usually made of pandan leaves dyed green, then different colored buri strips are inserted into the plaits to make the design.)***
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