For the economically challenged households, getting through life with their small income is difficult. And as they struggle to ensure that their family can be able to eat at least three meals per day, some of them look at education as more of a privilege than a need. Of the 2.8 million adults in a poor household, on average, 1.6 million (58 percent) completed primary schooling at most, one million (35 percent) either reached or completed secondary schooling, while the remaining 0.2 million (7 percent) reached college.
But Henny’s family begs to differ. Although her family belongs to what the government refer to as the marginalized sector, they are on their way to pursue their dreams believing that education is a key to their success.
Genuine smile of success
Living in a small abode in Brgy. Bangon, Odiongan, Romblon is the family of Henny Fodulla Fabellon. Henny, a mother of three, is one of the mothers who work tirelessly to get their children to finish college. Henny and his husband, Willy, do not have a stable source of income but they are able to send their children to school to provide them good education.
Henny and Willy are tenant farmers with only enough income to provide for their family’s every day needs. To add up to their income, Henny takes whatever job she is given, like sewing nipa shingles for 120 pesos for 40 pieces and doing laundry services. They manage to get their everyday food in their farm and backyard garden.
Sending their children to school is hard, but getting all of them to enter college is harder. But for Henny, anything is possible with a considerable amount of hard work and determination. She managed to get her eldest child, John Rey to finish BS Agricultural Engineering in 2015. John Rey passed the board exam last year in August and he is now working at the Department of Agriculture in Manila. Her second child, Pauline Kris is now on her 4th year as a Civil Engineering student at Romblon State University (RSU). Meanwhile, her youngest child, Clarize Mae is a 3rd year Information Technology student, also at RSU.
Getting there
Henny never thought that she can be able to send her children to college given their economic status. She almost gave up when John Rey and Pauline Kris entered college both at the same time. Henny and his husband are giving the best they can to send all of them to school but sending two of them in college was difficult. Henny asked Pauline Kris if she could stop schooling to give way for her older brother. But Pauline Kris refused. She wanted to continue her studies because that is her dream.
It breaks her heart seeing her children cry hence, Henny looked for ways to let all of her children continue going to school. She gets a loan in their cooperative and asked her friends for help. She even sold sack of rice they harvested in their farm which is supposedly for their own consumption. “Sabi ko nun, bahala na kung anong makain namin. Ang mahalaga makapasok sila, (I told myself that it does not matter what we will eat, as long as my children can go to school, that’s all that matter),” Henny recounted. Henny was able to enroll her children to school that year, but she continuously worries about the future of her children’s education. Timely enough, a year after it happened, Pauline Grace was listed as one of the student-grantees of the Expanded Students’ Grants-In-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation (ESGPPA), which has helped Henny and his family greatly.
ESGPPA is a program of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) which provides scholarships to beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilya. Beneficiaries will receive a maximum of Php 60,000 for tuition fee, textbooks/learning materials and allowance for transportation, board and lodging and other school supplies.
According to Henny, Pauline Kris spends the grant she is receiving to help her mother with their daily expenses. Pauline Kris shares her money to her siblings especially whenever Henny and Willy cannot provide them their allowances and school expenses.
Education as the key to success
Edukasyon ang tanging pamana ng magulang sa kanyang mga anak (Education is the only inheritance that a parent can give to their children).
Parents, especially from the small-earner, working class are often heard saying this phrase to their children. True indeed, education is an eternal treasure a parent can give to their children which cannot be taken away from them. Henny’s family believes that education is the main pathway to extend their life across poverty and lead their life forward. They believed that poverty is not a hindrance; but more of a challenge for them to push harder.
There are times when Henny thinks of giving up her children’s education. But whenever she sees them willing and determined to finish their studies, she stops worrying and continue working in order to achieve her dreams and her children’s dreams. Although she gets tired, she never fails to wear her smile to let her children see that they can get through whatever difficulty life may bring. ###
