A very loud sound of a crying baby filled the whole room. From a recorded doll comes the loud crying of a child.
"Shh. don't cry baby, Mommy is here. Time to drink your milk, baby." Said the woman to the baby doll on the floor of her room.
“Your eyes are as colored as mountains. Your hair is so beautiful with curls. Your lips is like the color of the roses in my garden. The mixed face of your father and me. I love you so much, my daughter.” The woman said to the doll as she pretended to give it milk.
“The clothes I bought are really your thing, my daughter. Especially the belt I made for you.” The woman said.
*tok~~ tok~~ *tok-tok
Sound of the door coming from outside the woman's bedroom.
“Good morning, Ma’am. It’s time to take your medicine. And I have someone with me, so that while you are taking the medicine, she’s the one who will take care of your baby.” Nurse Shiela said to the woman.
“Ok, this is my daughter. Hold her tight, huh!” the woman said to the other nurse next to nurse shiela.
When the other Nurse hold the baby doll or the considered daughter of the woman, Nurse Shiela inevitably looks at the baby doll. She remember something.
The eye of the doll used to be as colored as mountain but now it can’t be checked if it’s an eye or just a big hole in the baby doll’s face. The once most beautiful curly hair of the baby doll is now losing almost half of the hair, and it looks like it has burned. The lips that used to be as beautiful and as colored as roses are no longer visible. The formerly most beautiful baby doll dress is almost gone, and there are still traces where the dress and the belt of the baby doll were burnt. The baby doll's right hand was gone because it had burned. It's just a useless toy for others, but for the woman Nurse Shiela takes care of, it's a dominant toy that she has already taught that it's her child.
“Nurse Shiela? Hey, Nurse Shiela. Yuhooo~~” The other Nurse said while waving her hand in front of Nurse Shiela’s face.
“ hmm.. yeah....what is it?” Nurse Shiela said.
“You’re spacing out, Nurse Shiela. Ever since you saw the baby doll again, you've been stunned there.”
“I cannot help but think about that incident every time I see that baby doll.”
“You still can’t forget what happened, Nurse Shiela?”
“How can I forget that accident? That accident was the reason why my mother became like that. The reason why she had to stay here in the mental hospital is because of her childishness which come from that accident. And the reason why she has mentally unstable. How can I forget that day when I experienced the feeling that I had no parents because that day was also the day that my mother considered that ugly baby doll as her child even more than me. How can I forget the day that caused me misery?” crying Nurse Shiela said to her fellow Nurse.
Nurse Shiela immediately wiped away her tears. Then Nurse Shiela hurried to give her mother the medicine so that her mother could rest properly. After that, they also left the room without talking to his fellow Nurse.
PROMPT: Pick an object that is ugly and create a character who finds it very beautiful. Have the character describes the object in a way that convinces the reader of it's beauty. Now write a second version where you convince the reader (through describing the object alone) that the character is mentally unstable.
“Love is like a tree: it grows by itself, roots itself deeply in our being and continues to flourish over a heart in ruin. The inexplicable fact is that the blinder it is, the more tenacious it is. It is never stronger than when it is completely unreasonable.”
“If you happen to survive, and I fail, tell our people that the women of the Philippines did their part also in making the ember sparks of truth and liberty alive till the last moment.”
EARLY LIFE
This is a biography of Josefa Madamba Llanes-Escoda. She was born on September 20, 1898, in the landlocked municipality in the coastal province of Ilocos Norte, Dingras. Her parents are Mercedes Madamba and Gabriel Llanes. She was the eldest among the seven children in their family. Josefa's siblings were Florencio, Luisa, Elvira, Rosario, Purita, and Eufrocina. When Josefa was young, she was called Pepa. Pepa grew up with great faith in God and grew up with an instilled idea of the true Christian service. Pepa's mother is the one who told them the importance of serving people. This pleasant character filed by her mother embodied many parts of Pepa's life.
During Pepa's elementary day, she was known to be a cheerful, inherently active, and mature student. Because of her diligence in her studies and she is always focused on class. She graduated elementary and high school as valedictorian and salutatorian in Dingras, Ilocos Norte. She is also graduated with honors in 1919 from Philippine Norman School in Manila, where her degree is in teaching.
ADULTHOOD
She is working as a social worker for the Philippine chapter of the American Red Cross, which eventually sent her on a scholarship to Columbia University in New York. When Josefa was in the United States, she participated in civic activities, where she wore a Filipiniana dress for the first time. Later on, in 1923, Josefa served as the executive secretary of the National Federation of Women's Clubs (NFWC), fighting for women's involvement in the Philippine government.
She is famously quoted, "The modern woman is no longer the wife that clings; she now helps the husband. The women’s demand for independence is motivated by their desire to help their husbands in governmental affairs which always required the moderation and wisdom of women.”
In 1925, while she was at the Women's International League for Peace, she met Antonio Escoda, whom she later married. They had two children: Maria Theresa (which later became the President of the Cultural Center of the Philippines during the 1980's); and Antonio L. Escoda, Jr. She also earned her Master's Degree in Sociology in 1925.
GIRL SCOUT OF THE PHILIPPINES
1933, Josefa began her training in girl scout in the US. 1940 she return to the Philippines. She began training young women teachers of public and private schools to become Girl Scout leaders, who then proceeded to organize Girl Scout troops. On the 26th day month of May year 1940, The President Manuel L. Quezon signed the Girl Scouts of the Philippines.
WORLD WAR II
By gaining the trust of Japanese forces, Josefa use their resources to pass on to local prisoners in camps. Together with her husband, Josefa aided Filipino war prisoners and American internees in concentration camps during World War II by supplying them medicines, foods, clothes, and they even acting as messenger. However, this came to a halt when she was exposed and executed by the Japanese when they found out about her contributions. Her husband Antonio was the first arrested in June 1944, and Josefa Llanes Escoda was also arrested two months later on 27 August. They was imprisoned in Fort Santiago, and her husband along with General Vicente Lim, a Filipino brigadier general and a world war II hero, they were executed in 1944.
6th day of January 1945, Josefa was taken and held in Far Eastern University one of the occupied by the Japanese. She was seen alive but Japanese beaten her and because of that she became weak, after that she was transferred into a Japanese transport truck. They assumed Josefa was executed and buried in an unmarked grave. They are not sure if the buried body of Josefa is in La Loma Cemetery or in Manila Chinese Cemetery, where thousand of Filipinos who insisted the Japanese occupation were used this as an execution or burial ground.
The person who last seen her alive was Lt. Jose L. Llanes, Commander of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur. He said Josefa Llanes Escoda left this final message to him.
"I have done my duty to my country and God! To my mind the most I have done is having helped with the little I could do to save the lives of the surrendered soldiers of Bataan and Corregidor. I have offered myself as a guarantor for men later released by the enemy, that they commit no anti-Japanese act, men who, if they had the guts left would continue their resistance. I have acted as guarantors not only for the sake of humanity but also to encourage them to fight again. If you happen to survive, and I fail, tell our people that the women of the Philippines did their part also in making the ember sparks of truth and liberty alive till the last moment."
LEGACY
The Florence Nightingale of the Philippines, Josefa Llanes Escoda. If you are wondering what is the meaning of nightingale are symbolic of beauty and melody. Josefa became the melody or the voice of women. I admire her courage, how she gave justice to women, how she gave her voice to all women, and how she shared what she learned from scouting here in our country, especially with women. Her words will be sealed in the heart and mind of every woman who hears them, "The modern woman is no longer the wife that clings; she now helps the husband. The women's demand for independence is motivated by their desire to help their husbands in governmental affairs which always required the moderation and wisdom of women." I admired her even more for what she did to help Filipinos in need. She provided necessities even though she and her husband knew that would be the consequence of what they were doing would be their own lives.
The street, the building and the road have been named after Josefa Llanes Escoda. And she was depicted on the current 1000 peso bill in the Philippines. As a show of respect to the founder of the Girls Scout here in the Philippines, every September 20 the girl scout of the Philippines celebrating her birth anniversary with activities that create further awareness of her martyrdom and contribution to youth development.
"She is dead, but her presences can still feel the impact of what Josefa did on the Philippines, especially to all the women."
"I am the only queen on my castle. I am the only star in my movie. I am the only butterfly in my garden. I am the only author of my own story."
November 16, 2005. Together with the cold breeze can be heard the agonizing and painful cry of a mother giving birth in their home. After a few hours of suffering, the cute and fat girl was born, and that was me. Hi, I'm Jhodie C. Andres, the eldest daughter of Dionisio and Jocelyn Andres. I am an Iglesia Ni Cristo and I have a duty as a choir member. I have two siblings, Dorothy Jane and Ryan Dj. My papa is the one who named me Jhodie. He has a favorite Korean drama to watch called Stairway To Heaven, whose stars are Jodi and Cholo. My Mama told me that Papa and Lola were looking forward to that Korean drama until I was born, and that’s the origin of my name. And this is the story of my life.
My Childhood POV...
I was two years old when I started going to school. I studied at Day Care back then. I know it is weird, but that's my grandmother's story to me. And I still remember what I always carried was a small backpack with the design of Dora, the cartoon character who always had a monkey with. And my grandmother always went to school with me back then. But because I was so young, when I started studying in Day Care, I had to repeat another year to be accepted into Kindergarten. Around 2009 I graduated from Day Care and entered Kindergarten at Maybubon Elementary School. When it comes to academic performance, I was the type of student who could do everything, such as drawing, solving math, and being creative in class. I'm the type who can do everything, but I don't know where I'm good at, an average student that's what they call me.
When I was in grade 2, a miracle happened in my life, and that is I got into the Top 3 honors. I didn't expect that, so to the delight of my parents after the recognition, we went to Jollibee. In Grade 3, I became a choir member within Iglesia Ni Cristo. When I was in grade 3, it was here also that I first experienced having a crush. As a kid, I had no idea about what they called love life, but because of the influence of my friends, I learned to like one of my classmates in grade 3. I was in grade 5 when I was inclined to memorize lessons, and the poems were every time assigned to us by the teachers. Memorization is no longer hidden from me because I needed it during my elementary exams.
When I was in grade 5, I was one of the candidates among the declamation contenders back then. Unfortunately, I was not the chosen one because I had a fever, nor was I fortunate enough to be with the science contenders then because I also had a fever. I don't know if it's just a coincidence or it's just the fever that made me not want to participate in contests like that. I was in grade six when I tried to participate in a track and field event, the shot-put. The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy spherical ball — the shot — as far as possible.
Honestly, almost nothing happened when I was in grade six. Because we are graduating from elementary school, we are more focused on where we will be in junior high school. I planned to try to enter New Era University then because my cousin told me it was beautiful there. But mama and papa did not agree with that idea because they said the school was too far and I was too young to study in the city. I didn't do anything before because they were right, so we just looked for a private school in Paniqui. And when we found it, it was the beginning of a new POV in my life.
My Teenage POV...
2017
My 7th grade days. I call this the beginning of reaching my dreams. New environment and new people. Honestly, I thought it would be difficult for me in private school because I'm from a public school and I'm not very good at communicating, but it's true to say that everything you think is deadly. Because these people welcomed me with a warm hug and they welcomed me as if we had known each other for a long time. I had friends on the first day of the school year then we ate together in the cafeteria during lunch and recess. At the time of going home, we would go out of school and wait for those who would pick us up at the same time. But our friendship didn't last long, because little by little we also found a new circle of friends, but it's ok with them because we accept that our friendship won't last long.
June 03 to October 19, 2017, our house became a temporary place of worship. November 25, 2017, was the day of my baptism and the day of my grandfather's baptism. 2017 was the best year and have the best memories ever.
Before the end of 2017, I met BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan), one of the K-pop bands in Korea. I didn't expect to be their fan because, honestly I do not like to watch anything, but it seems like someone motivated me to join their fandom. They weren't like popular back then, but I've heard a lot from them. I found their music one of my safest places, it's like magic that I listen to songs I don't understand, but I seem to understand what their songs want to convey. They are my seven Anpaman. Their songs gives me comfort.
My 8th grade days were enchanting experiences. I made the best friendship, and up until now, I have them on my back. These people gave me a unique life experience. I experienced going out because of them. Because when I was in elementary, I was not allowed to go out when it was not school-related. I also experienced going home at night because of the rush of group projects. I also experienced camping, joining intrams, and teamwork.
I didn't expect to have any real friends here at PODMHS, a school where I attended junior high school. We called our friendship group "howlers pack" because we were evenly fond of wolves back then. We named each other, they named me as a Luna because I was like a mother in our group, Ashlee as an alpha in our group because she loves to fight, and we are always mistaken for twins, Khristel as a beta because she is the most -rude to the group, Janvier as gamma because he is like the combination of Ashlee and Khristel, Narvir as delta and she is the youngest in our group, and Jemme as omega because she is the innocent one in our group, she's like Maria Clara. But, I love them so much. Because they are the people who found the key to reopen the door of my heart that has been closed for a long time. They are one of the reasons I smile, I cry, and most of all they are the only ones who can show who I am.
Year 2018, I also one of the graduates of CLTC (Crew Leaders Training Course). We are the 18-008 Lipad Montessorians. My high school life became magical, and I never expected that. These events in my life will have a huge space in my heart and mind.
2018 also when I discover that I love reading books, especially fictional stories in the Wattpad app. Whenever I have time or I want to rest I will just get a book or go to the Wattpad app then grab my earphone, play my favorite playlist of BTS songs, and read the whole book in a day. I love sleeping and eating. People ask me where I'm good at, and I'll tell them I'm good at sleeping, just kidding.
I'm good at cooking and I do experiment with things that can be a cook so I can have snacks or something to eat while doing my school work. Whenever there is a birthday here with us or a celebration, you can see desserts and chicken buffalo wings that I make, you'll see at the dinner table.
Since the pandemic started here in the Philippines, people's lives in the world have become even worse. And since there was an announcement that the learning system is now modules and online classes, I doubted myself even more. When there were face-to-face, I wasn't good at academics, and I wasn't good at sports either. That's why I tried so hard to study, when I started taking online classes last school year, I was in 10th grade. What I went through at that time was not easy.
I still remember that I had to wake up early to find the signal for our WiFi because the internet connection here in our house was weak. There are times when I have to go to the farm and sit there all day just to get to class or just to pass on my video presentation projects. But because I did not give up, I persevered to graduate junior high school. On the day we graduated junior high school, I was one of those with honors. I don't know how I felt that day. I just cried out loud, not because I was sad but because I was so happy.
“In life, the words give up should be your last choice. Try and fail but never fail to try.”
My family is always supportive of me and is always there whenever I have a problem. They are always there to remind me every time that "You should learn that sometimes it's not worst to take a risk because we don't know what will happen if the outcome is good or bad but let's teach it a lesson in our lives." Things in the world are not going to be easy, so we are always supportive of each other.So I am very thankful to our Lord God that even though life was hard during the pandemic he did not abandon us, especially my Papa who was working in the middle of the pandemic.
Many good things have happened in my life, but there is no point in denying that there are times when I also feel weak and experience loneliness, but that does not cause my world to stop spinning there. The world I built my whole life. In that world, I create a castle where I am the queen. In that world, I made a movie, that I am the star. The world has a beautiful garden that I am the butterfly. The world that full of stories, and I am the author.
"Hi. I am Jhodie C. Andres, 16 years old. Student at New Era University Integrated School. I am in 11th grade, and my academic strand is Humanities and Social Science."
"You can not say you love someone if you can't say that you love yourself."
It's been a while since I heard the word love. What does love mean? Butterflies inside the stomach while hearing some cheesy words? Is it Giving flowers and chocolates every anniversary or just a random day?
She was just six years old at that time when I met her. She was outside their house when I first saw her, playing with his mother's newly bought toy. She was a happy kid, kind, obedient, and loving. Ten years ago when I met this girl, a cute chubby girl. I can still remember the smile that reaches her eyes, her lingering hair blowing in the wind, and her laughter becoming music to my ears. At those times, she seemed to be the only one I could see good happening to me. She is like a rainbow that gives light to my world. She is like a diamond that must be guarded and not be broken.
During those times, she was running, playing with her cousins. You can see in her the real happiness, the joy that nothing can match. She always wants those around her to be happy, and she doesn't like any negative vibes in her surroundings. She wanted everyone around her to smile. She was like an angel in those days. She is the one who gives smiles and joy to people who are close to despair. And that's the reason why I wanted to see her again.
I like her no I love her during those times, you want to know why? Because that little girl is the one who gives me strength now. Whenever I remember her, she is the reason why I continue, why until now I still fight even though life is getting harder and harder. It's nice to go back to those times. A time when I still love myself. Yes, you read that right. I am the little girl who used to be happy but now I’m just trying to be happy and faking my smile. Who wants everyone around her to have no negative vibes, and now I’m the negative vibes accompanied by many what-ifs in life.
It was as if I was looking in the mirror as I remembered the times when I was young. It is not tame to go back and forth with those memories, but at the same time, I can't help being jealous of who I used to be. How Jhodie Andres, full of self-love, now lets herself go with the flow like that. How a cute little girl that used to be the light in front of others is now in the dark. How the sound of my laugh becomes the sound of my cry. How I considered myself as a diamond but now even the best glue in the world can not bring back the whole diamond, the whole me.
