黑料社

Rebecca always dreamed of becoming a nurse.
However, because of poverty, her parents were not able to continue sending her to school.
Her heart was broken.
鈥淚 was so sad because I always told my mother, 鈥楳a, I really want to wear that white uniform, the one that nurses wear鈥�),鈥� she said in Cebuano.
Despite her previous setback, she is ready to chase that dream again by enrolling as a Grade 6 student in Guadalupe Elementary School.
She is already 39 years old.
Even with her age, she chooses to report to school in their prescribed elementary school uniform.
鈥淚 feel proud wearing our uniform,鈥� she told Cebu Daily 黑料社.
FIRST HOMEWORK
As their first homework, her class adviser, Galeleo Caratao, asked them to submit a short essay about themselves.
Because of the assignment, Rebecca slept only for two hours as she juggled her tasks of being a mother of three children and translating her Cebuano composition into English, using a Cebuano-English dictionary.
Last Tuesday, she was the first one to read her composition. Aside from introducing herself and giving her family background, she explained to the class why she decided to go back to school.
鈥淚鈥檓 back in school because it鈥檚 difficult to have no education. I鈥檓 not ashamed to enter the classroom everyday because I want to learn. I want to enter high school and college, and finish a nursing degree, so that I can help my family and have a better life,鈥� she read as she held back tears.
Her classmates, who were touched by her story, applauded after she finished reading her composition.
Rebecca, the second of five siblings, grew up in the Badian town.
Her mother was a farmer while her father was a fisherman. When she reached Grade 5, she was told by her parents that they could no longer afford her education. With the family鈥檚 problems, her parents decided to separate.
She was then 14. Since she couldn鈥檛 take the burden at home and she wanted to continue schooling, she decided to run away.
鈥淚 ran away because I wanted to find money so that I could continue going to school. I really wanted to finish my studies,鈥� she said in Cebuano.
HOUSEMAID
Fortunately, she met a couple in Fairlane Village, barangay Guadalupe, who took her in as a housemaid.
鈥淪werte ra pud kaayo ko kay buotan kaayo akong mga amo, (I was so lucky because my employers were good people)鈥� she said.
Aside from working in the couple鈥檚 home, she was also assigned to work at the canteen of the family鈥檚 construction businesses in Lapu-Lapu City, Naga City, and Bacolod City.
It was while working as a canteen employee that she met her husband, a co-employee. They have three children鈥擜lberto, Felix and Felica. The eldest, Alberto, already finished high school, while both Felix and Felica are students the Ramon Duterte Memorial National High School.
When Rebecca鈥檚 employers decided to migrate to New Zealand, they asked her to be the caretaker of their home in Guadalupe and also agreed to spend for her education.
鈥淚 was so happy, I said, 鈥楾his is it! I can finally reach my dreams鈥� she said in Cebuano.
She said her employers have been offering to send her to school for a long time already, but she wanted to wait until her children were already in high school.
BACK TO SCHOOL
She realized that it was time to go back to school when a neighbor asked her to ran an errand following up his documents from different government offices.
鈥淗e would ask me to go to the BIR, SSS, DAR, but I could hardly understand the transactions, which is why I realized that it is really different when you are educated,鈥� she said in Cebuano.
She enrolled last year as a Grade 5 student.
Now that she is already in Grade 6, she is also taking classes under the Department of Education鈥檚 Alternative Learning System (ALS), a ladderized, modular non-formal education program for out-of-school youths.
Rebecca鈥檚 exam results will determine whether or not she could go directly straight to college or undergo a few years in high school.
According to Rebecca, having classmates who are even younger than her own children was challenging at first.
鈥淎 lot of them will ask me鈥斺�榃hy are you still studying when you are already old? You are already a mother. You cannot catch up with the lessons. They asked that if I could not answer the teacher鈥檚 questions, why should I bother raising my hand? I told them, 鈥楴ever mind. I just want to practice. If there is something that I could not be able to understand, please teach me because you know better,鈥� she said.
Her adviser, Caratao who is only two years older than Rebecca, said he was amazed by her fighting spirit and considers himself blessed to have a student like her.
HER ADVICE
Meanwhile, Rebecca encouraged the students not to waste the opportunity to have an education because not all children have the privilege to go to school.
鈥淒o your best in school while your parents still have money to send you to school. This is for you so that when you won鈥檛 have difficulty in raising your family when you have one,鈥� said Rebecca in Cebuano.
Rebecca also has this advice for the out-of-school youth who don鈥檛 have the courage to go back to school because of their age: 鈥淚t鈥檚 never too late..
鈥淭hey should not worry about what other people say, what their classmates may say. As long as they are interested to go back to school, interested to learn, interested to reach their dreams, they should study again,鈥� she said.