It was graduation day. The school’s front gate was filled with people selling colourful corsages laced with blue and pink ribbons. Students, along with their parents, struggled to carefully go to their respective lines the way they have practiced several times. Congressmen’s metallic cars started inserting themselves through the school perhaps a little too late. It was a big event and there was an uncontrollable commotion. Despite this, Ella was at the peak of her energy. She was happy to be the second one to march down the aisle. But she was even happier to march with her mother.
Of course it was back to reality for Ella after the ceremony which would mean it was back to packing cold meat products for her mother and drinking alcohol for her father. It would also mean receiving lunch from her nearby relatives and more hoping for her mother’s rightful salary increase. No more colourful corsages and hyped up atmospheres. But at least Ella still had the medal. And she clung to it.
Ella and her mother went home to a shabby room where all expenses are attempted to be shaded under the umbrella of 300 pesos. People would say that this is what ‘poverty’ is about. Because of their said condition, she and her family would always be referred to as the ones ‘living in poverty’, also known as the people surviving despite the lack of resources.
Fortunately for dubbed poverty kids like Ella, she was enrolled in a public school where education is free and services by the government are being delivered right inside the classrooms. So to her and her family’s joy, some resources were no longer lacking.
Nutribun was her favorite freebie yet. Nutribun was a program of the local government with an ambition to lessen the number of malnourished children in the Philippines. It was like pandesal, but three times healthier. The bread was made of wheat blend flour and an added nutritional value of soy protein which, according to Dr. Rodolfo Florentino, president of the Nutrition Foundation of the Philippines, is high in protein which makes it perfect for fueling thinking and moving students. Originally, it was a program by the late Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos during the 1970’s to make sure public elementary school children were fed with the proper amount of nutrition every day. The government believed that this will fill in the hunger hole of people ‘living in poverty’. Unfortunately, the buns bade goodbye came 1997 when the United States, who was providing a substantial amount of aid, assessed that Africa needs more help than the Philippines.
It was a good thing Nutribun got back in time for Ella to experience it. Although it got smaller than a regular pandesal, she took delight in its soft and chewy texture. And even though it is not free anymore and it will cost her Php 1 for a bun, Ella still considered it a freebie because of its cheapness for a free nutrition. It was a coin for her health. She just wished her family could also have Nutribuns every day. Health was Ella and her family’s hole that the government attempted to fill. Alas, perhaps all it did was feed temporary relief.
Meanwhile, Tuesdays were Ella’s favorite day of the week. This is the day a truck full of goodies like toys and other supplies enter the school for another day of reward claiming! This is referred to as the EcoSavers Program where students would have to bring recyclable garbage to school. These will be weighed by officials who will convert kilograms into points which will be recorded in a pink, quarter of a short bond paper passbook owned by the students. Now, Ella was always quite competitive when weighing day came. She would feel victorious every time she carries a bag of what felt like a kilogram of liquor and soy sauce bottles taken from home to school.
One Tuesday, a giddy Ella stepped foot inside the truck, excited for what the bottles could give her this time. Expecting a great deal, she pointed at a Scrabble board game to an official. The official just crinkled her forehead and said flatly, “Kulang ang points mo. Ito lang ang pwede sa ‘yo.” And she pointed at candies and erasers.
Ella got three pieces of Maxx lemon candies and an eraser. Still, she considered these freebies. This was supposed to be a great deal already compared to what junk shops offer.
The buns and the EcoSavers were knee jerks in Ella’s relaxed state of the everyday. She was thankful for them because she always had something to look forward to. But these did not really give solutions; they were merely tests for the people to see whether the government was tapping its people. They were disturbances that injected extraordinary events in a life of the ordinary. They became moments for Ella – slow-motion scenes in a normally fast-paced background.
Fifth grade came. And young men in light blue polos started entering Ella’s school. Another disturbance perhaps. They were Ateneo students who were in their fourth year in high school. And they entered Ella’s school carrying envelopes, books, notebooks, and other school supplies. The men where individually carrying them in light loads. It was clear. They were not there to donate. They were there to teach.
And they continued to do so until Ella was in her fourth year in high school. She and other students received full scholarships to known academic institutions. But more than that, they received the gift of learning to love learning. Receiving such made Ella found out that all the while she was, unfortunately, asleep. Currently in her third year in the University of the Philippines, she felt like she was Neo in The Matrix finally waking up from a programmed world. The once young men in blue gave her the opportunity to unleash her potentials she could not discover because she believed she was, as we say, ‘lacking in resources’. They did not give her buns or points for candies. Instead, they gave her education. It was not a short-term thing. It was a moment that shook her life. It became the solution.
After another session with the kuyas in blue one afternoon, Ella went straight home. Upon entering home, she was shocked to see her father still in the house. This was highly unlikely. Usually, he would have gone to the other end of the street where men were positioned in circles, tossing coins. But he was there helping her mother put up a sari-sari store. He stopped drinking alcohol. He, along with his wife, began to invest in Ella and her siblings’ education. All these because he saw what his children can do. And his children was able to show it because they were given opportunities by non-government organizations to continue receiving quality education.
Data from Prof. Solita Monsod of Economics would say that of the 68 who will finish Grade 6, 60 will enter high school, 45 will be high school graduates, 26 will move on to college, and 13 will become college graduates with Ella being one of the 26 and is now aspiring to be one of the 13. This is a sad data. Such numbers reinforce how many people choose only labor as a means to fill their lack of resources and not even consider investing in education as one of the means. This data is coming out of research because we tend to not see pass of what we know of poverty. The local government uses programs such as Nutribuns and the EcoSavers Program to give resources that apparently people, whose income is not enough to support a family of five, lack. The current Aquino administration’s flagship anti-poverty program, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4P’s), which provides cash for chosen Filipino families in exchange of them sending their children to school, is well and good for creating huge efforts to actually give money to those in need. But not all families make use of this wisely, even with the program requiring the money be given only to the female head of the family. Melanie, Ella’s friend, is a beneficiary of the said program. Sadly, not all of the money goes for the education of her children. More than half of it is taken away from her by her mother-in-law. She felt helpless as Ella and her family did when their status got the best of them. They felt voiceless which in turn made them feel that they need to fully depend on these programs to survive.
It is true that they are deficient in terms of resources. But more than that, they were voiceless and humiliated for having to depend on donations, government services and to the people giving them. For Ella and Melanie, this is what poverty is about. And as the previous data reinforced, a lot of people are possibly voiceless.
It is difficult to speak when society tells you that being poor is a destiny. It is difficult to speak when society sees charity as the absolute civic action there is. It is difficult to speak when people keep on looking down at you as if there is nothing you can do but kneel, accept their helping hands and remain at that level. All these are seen normal only to find out that it is actually not. Ella is now speaking with ease because she simply accepted education as a solution. If we aspire to stop poverty, it would be wise to be like Ella and her family.
Sources:
George, Diana. "Changing the Face of Poverty: Nonprofits and the Problem of Representation." Critical Encounters with Text. Web.
It might look original but it was actually a fruit of plagiarism. It was an idea stolen from the mother of the baby beside my crib when I was born. Father told me it was supposed to be Michelle because it sounded like beach music. Apparently, Miqaella sounded better, hearing it being spoken by a stranger. Fortunately for names, it can be made original.
My mother was fond of decorating the Christmas tree, our store, and the garden. She liked to put something new and attractive to everything – a honey-glazed Christmas ball dusted with a bit too much gold, huge heart-shaped cut-outs pasted on our store refrigerator, and huge orchids planted on coconut shell. All these perhaps for the purpose of making them even more alive. Meanwhile when it comes to herself, make-up is not a necessity. But since she does not like it dull, she smiles, her cheeks making her look like a kid, full of life and ready to sacrifice a lot of things for the joy of seeing a happy family. Of course, my name was no exception. Mikhaela, Micaela, or Michaela were all muted Christmas trees, refrigerators, and gardens. So she thought of the letter Q and how it could be the most expensive accessory in my identity. True enough, my name brightens up the faces of people every time they learn of it. “I didn’t know that was possible”, they would say. And now perhaps they are thankful for knowing that someone exists with such a name. I like how my name smiles to people like how my mother would. It proves endless possibilities.
However, my name was often criticized for not having U next to Q. It was questioned like how gay marriage was questioned by Catholics. But at the end of the day, these people end up being amazed of how my mother beautifully destroyed the status quo. Who says Q should always be next to U anyway? My mother then seemed to not care. She just thought of me, concerned of bringing a name to a child she nurtured and waited for 9 months. Besides, I would not want to be officially called Miqua. Miqua sounds like a mistake. It is a depressing name. Just speaking it brings a pout. And anyway, I want my friends to be able to pronounce my name when they laugh hysterically, or for when we run towards each other after graduation.
Miqaella. It might sound more like loud clanging bells than soft seashells but it is a reminder of my mother. Drawing my name on paper produces my best craft. And it looks so feminine with it being rich in curves of different kinds. Whether drawn in cursive or in print, it would still look like a well- decorated Christmas tree. Furthermore, it blends well with my surname. Miqa Paz. Miqaella Paz. It is like a puzzle piece. It sounds right like how twinkle, twinkle is followed by little star. I would not want to change it for the world.
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for – and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing. It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool – for love – for your dreams – for the adventure of being alive.
It’s 1:05 am. Still confused with a lot of things right now. Kept ranting about different dramas to myself. Still struggling with this so-called battle between my expectations and I. Still can’t decide whether I’d have to problematize my slacking off whenever I get tired from all the darkness of life.
Well, it’s a good thing Christmas is just around the corner!!! Days before the 25th, I’d always succumb to the thought of families looking forward to the best Christmas ever. Breathing in the cold air and watching the lights flicker helps me get a long hold of my sanity. I just love Christmas so much I kept playing Ariana Grande’s Santa Tell Me on loop. No stressful task can destroy my Christmas hype!!!
GIF retrieved from http://joyeuxno-el.tumblr.com/post/132864664554/noel-noel-come-check-out-my-wonderful-christmas
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