Maria's story: A struggle for education
Behind her timid smile are the painful truths of life. Her teary eyes are devoid of hope though deep within, her heart beats for a brighter future. Her hands had been roughened by the early responsibilities that she has to face. Her will sharpened by time.
Maria (not her real name) is a no-ordinary seventeen year-old. No, she's not a movie star though her life may sound like a heartbreaking soap. Sitting along the shore, she began narrating her story.
Maria carrying her younger
brother
The eldest of four siblings, Maria bore the heavy responsibility of taking care of her sickly mother and three younger brothers after her father deserted them. At an early age, she began working for people to help her mother in their daily needs. Maria's mother collects cans and plastic bottles at the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) of the village to feed her children.
They live in a single-room house in a slum area. "This used to be an open-air house," describes Maria who used to sleep on the bamboo floor exposed to the dark surroundings. Long before it was reconstructed through the help of World Vision, Maria's house had no walls. "During rainy days, we would squeeze ourselves under an umbrella," narrates Maria's mother who would cover the side of their house with plastics and blankets to protect her children from getting soaked.
Couple of years ago, Maria was hired by a family to do household chores. Without a second thought, she grabbed the opportunity hoping that it was the answer to her prayers. Maria would wake up in the wee hours of the morning to cook for the family she was working for and to wash their dirty clothes. In return, they enrolled her to a public school. Maria would walk her way to school empty handed. They never gave her anything except for her free stay in the house, a set of uniform, and an insufficient meals.
"They never gave me anything for my projects. I was too shy to ask. If I will tell them that I need some amount for school they would ask me too many questions... if I would sum up the amount of money I asked from them it will only make a total of P100," narrates Maria. She cited that once she asked for P1.00 as a payment for a school activity from the husband. He got mad at her.
Maria (right) being interviewed by the
writer while vlunteers from World Vision
look on.
When asked why she left the house after rendering four months of service, Maria revealed that her male employer and his son-in-law would let her watch porn movies on video phones and DVDs. "They forced me to watch." Luckily, Maria decided to quit her job.
Though Maria was one of the155 child laborers identified by the ILO-IPEC and supported by the World Vision through its ABK Initiative, she still works on a restaurant from dusk until dawn. Tired and very sleepy, she walks alone at 3:00 a.m. through the dark and dangerous streets on her way home. When episodes of asthma attacks her mother, she would run into the neighborhood and look for medications.
Maria earns P50 a day for her 7-hours stay in the restaurant. Aside from her duties, she was once asked to do the laundry. "When a plate or a glass is broken they will automatically charge it to us," states Maria.
"The World Vision through ABK Initiative grants Maria educational supplies while the Rising Sun Association of Iloilo Incorporated sponsors her transportation allowance," explains Maila Delos Santos, ABK Initiative-Provincial Education Officer.
The Pag-Aaral ng Bata para sa Kinabukasan (Education for Children's Future) otherwise known as the ABK Initiative is a four-year special project implemented by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like World Vision to combat child labor through education. It is funded by the US Department of Labor (USDOL) under cooperative agreement No. E-9-E-K-3-0055.
Currently, Maria goes to school for summer classes to take up the subjects that she left undone. At night instead of reading her books or doing her homework just like most students, she holds a sponge and used plates at the restaurant hoping that someday her fate will change.
"It's really hard. Oftentimes I feel sleepy in school," relates the 17-years-old girl whom her classmates call as lulubog-lilitaw because of her inconsistent school attendance.
Maria dreams of becoming a nurse or a hotel and restaurant manager in the future. "I envy those who have snacks at school and those children who doesn't work. Those who just go to school," admits Maria. Tears were falling from her eyes. "I wanted to study because I want to find a better job in the future," the girl who still has an angst against her father for not supporting them said.
As a loving sister to her younger brothers, she hopes that they too can finish school. "When you are being sent to school grab the opportunity. Set aside the less important things otherwise you'll end up with nothing but being dependent on your parents," shares Maria to people her age.
Maria's story is just one of the many. Her story can be replicated for thousands of times by millions of children. Some may have worst story to tell.
There are approximately 4 million Filipino child laborers (16.2% of 25 million children) aging 5 to 17 years old in the country. More than half of them are exposed to hazards or in worst forms of child labor such as mining and quarrying, domestic labor, pyrotechnics production, commercial sexual exploitation , deep-sea fishing, and sugarcane plantation. These children have been denied of their rights.
How can a country progress when its children were left uneducated? Poverty anchors us to be stuck in the third-world state. Education is a tool to eradicate poverty. Let's send our children to school. They deserve to be educated.