Tag Archives: children

A Happy Father’s Month

26 May

In relation to the death anniversary of my father this May 27 (Memorial Day) and wonderful celebration of the Father’s Day,  I would like to pay tribute to him for being a great father.  I was born without a father figure in our family.  My parents got separated when my mother was in 3 month-pregnant on me.  My father had second family but still he did not forget to visit us about once or twice a year.  I did not know him before.  I thought he was just only a family guest visiting us.  When my father visited us, my older sister next to me excitedly and happily went to him and kiss his hand as a sign of respect.  If he arrived and I am playing, I just continued playing and say to my sister, “Your father arrives.”   I did not know that my father had talked to my sister asking help for introducing him to me as my father.  One day, after my father enrolled me in high school as freshman, he took me to a restaurant. We ate together.  That was the moment when he got the chance to introduce himself to me.  He said, “Do you know me?’ I could not answer quickly.  I am just looking at him.  Then, he continued, “I am your father.”  I could not imagine his feelings and emotions that time but he had the courage to say it to me.   I could not describe how I feel that time at the age of 12.  I felt I had already a complete family even I know only just a couple of hours because he should go back to his work and second family which is too far from us.  He accompanied me to buy school things that I need  and buy fresh foods in the wet market.  We went back home together and have a good lunch with my mother and other family members.  Before he departed and said goodbye, it was the first time that I kissed his hand as a sign of respect to my father.

I was a high school junior when I got sick badly.  I had been seen by the medical doctor, people using natural medicines but my health condition was getting worse.  I having a high fever then chilly temperature.  I got diarrhea and throwing up.  I got lose weighs in just few days.  I was absent for more than a week already in school. I remembered that week was our school exams of all subjects.  My mother was so bothered and worried about me.  She could not work, eat and sleep well.  My father who was living and working too far can cure or heal somebody who is sick.   His background career was in military but he had a special ability to cure some illnesses.  I knew and witnessed it personally.  So I requested to my mother to telegraph my father immediately.  Early morning the following day, my father rushed into our house and cured me with his prayers and certain medicinal herb extracts.  He really rescued my life.  I thought I would die that early age.

When I got a chance to live with my father when I started to go into college, he treated me fairly with his second family.  We never had any conflicts while living with them in spite of my father’s condition that was one-blind eye due to the call of duty as a great policeman and one-amputated leg due to diabetes.  He was no longer working in the hospital that time as a security guard but he was still earning a living for us and well-known in their community as an herbal doctor.

He was a loving father who is ready to provide the family needs.  I never saw my father having arguments or conflicts with my mother.  They settled down certain conflicts nicely and appropriately. My father was also a great singer and dancer during his times.  Because of his talents, he was frequently invited by some local politicians in fiestas and other special occasions such as weddings just to entertain the guests through his traditional songs and dances.

Although we had bonded together for a very short time but the quality time that he gave for his families that matters most to me.  I understand him. I felt his love and presence as a father to all of us regardless of distance, family status and life challenges.

We really miss you, Tatay. We love you so much.  Happy Father’s Day to all.

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Aging Mother

3 May

Our mother is the greatest person that we ever known in the world. She is our role model of traditions, family values and love.  Our mother devotes her entire life and sacrifices many things for the welfare of her family.  Our mother makes sure that all of her children are always in good condition with or without her husband’s support.  But what if our mother is getting old now, does she deserve to be cared for her needs? Absolutely Yes, it is our obligation as her children to take good care of her to the rest of her life.  What does an aging mother need?  Just like what a baby needs, let us consider the most essential things below.

Aging mother needs daily basic needs.

Our mother needs nutritious foods to sustain healthy life.  She needs clean clothes, bed sheets and blankets.  Our mother needs a family home and living together with her own children.  She feels happy with her own children and grandchildren.

Aging mother needs medical help and healthy habits.

Our mother needs the help of a medical doctor to monitor her health regularly as she gets older.  She needs to practice healthy habits like personal hygiene, enough sleep, getting fresh air and does simple physical exercises daily.

Aging mother needs our time.

Providing the basic needs for our mother is not enough, she needs also our precious time with her.  No matter how busy we are, no matter how poor or wealthy we are, we as her children should provide a quality time with her.  Our mother wants us to listen to her stories frequently.  She also listens to the stories that we want to share with her.  Quality bonding time is necessary to cherish the good memories with our mother as she lives with us.  Try to take a walk with her in a very awesome and wonderful environment.  Talk to your mother with all your heart and let your mother feels that you really love her very much.

Aging mother needs you

Do you know how important you are to your mother? You are so important to her.  Do not ever leave the opportunity to take good care of your mother.  Because if you will ignore this kind of opportunity to your mother, you do not know what will happen next.  Time comes that you cannot ever hear her voice and stories.  You cannot ever hear her advises.  You cannot ever see her smiling and laughing with your funny jokes. No more mother to receive your Mother’s Day greeting card.  No more mother to wake you up in the morning.  No more mother to prepare your favorite meals. You cannot ever hug and comfort her with your loving arms. You cannot ever go together again to the church, shopping malls, birthday parties, beaches, fiestas and other special occasions.  Definitely, you will really miss her presence.

Therefore, what are you waiting for? It is not too late. Act now.  Wherever you are, always remember your dearest mother.  Have a “Happy Mother’s Day!”

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Don’t Just Be A Dreamer

20 Jan

This was my article before going to the United States of America on March 10, 2010.

December 20, 2008

MEYCAUAYAN COLLEGE ALUMNEWS
ALUMNEWS Feature
DON’T JUST BE A DREAMER
“Don’t just be a dreamer……. but be a doer too.” How could you figure out a young boy who came from a broken family and very poor family who tried to overcome his own struggles in life?
My parents were already separated before I was born. I did not have a father figure in our house. We did not have any real properties. We rented the lot from our neighbor and our house is made up of light materials only and no electricity at all. I studied my lessons in a dim light of lamp. My mother, as a single parent worked so hard just to support her own family. She worked in the farm during daytime and weaved mats in the evening. She was still awake at 3 o’clock in the morning. There were times that she get unpaid from farm works and insulted publicly. It had been a number of times that our family degraded, deprived and discriminated. It was very difficult to be poor. During weekends, she sold mats and vegetables in the market. She got laundry clothes from our neighborhood when farm works were not available. We were always looking for our firewood, rice and food everyday. We did not have money even for our transport which made all of us to walk back and forth several kilometers away from poblacion to the barrio every time we went there for work. I did not have enough money when I was in the elementary and high school to support my studies. At the age of 10, I was an ice buko vendor already, carrying a box of frozen items and shouting  on the streets in our hometown. I did help our family in household chores and in selling vegetables in the market. My father with his own family had physical disabilities. He had artificially-made eye due to work-related incident when he was a policeman. He had also amputated leg due to diabetes. I started to recognize my father when I was in high school when he introduced himself while we were eating in a plaza’s restaurant and when he offered help for my tuition fees in high school. I realized the hardships of my parents in raising our family; putting up things together and solving various problems. However, I retained myself in the first section of the class since elementary up to high school. I participated in some extra-curricular activities in the school.
After graduation in high school, I cried when I could not continue my studies in college because my father got sick already and my mother could no longer support me. I remembered when she said one time, “Just cut my body into pieces and sell it” “So that you have something to support for your studies” She was crying too. I cried because I got 92% general average in National College Entrance Examination but I could not enroll in college. All my classmates in the first section would go to college for the coming year. First, I took up a free 6-month training of typing course which was sponsored by the Roman Catholic Church. In the afternoon, I did tutoring to graders in exchange of “sweet potatoes” as snacks and little amount of money from our neighborhood. Besides, I had to take good care of our vegetable garden so that we have something to eat. After graduation in the vocational course, that was the time that I should  look for a better job that can provide our daily needs. But there was another problem, how could I leave my 75 year-old aunt who stayed in our house for several years to help my mother in raising our family and she had never been married. I took good care my aunt since she got an illness. Do I take good care my physically-ill aunt through her entire life or to pursue my plans in life? It was a very difficult decision.
At last, I decided to look for a job. I just my visited my aunt once or twice a year. I had been a houseboy then a fresh meat, fish, and vegetable pushcart vendor in Meycauayan City then a cigarette, candies and plastic market vendor in Olongapo City then a gasoline boy in Zambales then a factory worker of school supplies in Novaliches and finally, a textile worker in Meycauayan City. When I obtained my regular appointment, that was the time that I have to start my plans again. While working in the textile, I did enroll in Meycauayan College. I never forgot to support our family in terms of financial assistance even I was studying while working. Meycauayan College was the nearest college wherein convenient for me in terms of financial matters, distance travel and time management. This was the institution I thought that can give me a college diploma and a quality education. My expectation was really true. Even I would like to take medicine course that time but I did not have huge amount of money for the said course. Thus, I selected Biology as my major in Education. I took Education course because I want to share my knowledge to everybody.

During my college days, I performed well academically with a general weighted average of 1.78. It so happened that I was a working student then and I believed that it could be better and higher if I am just a full-time student. Despite of these, I participated in certain college activities such as impromptu speech, singing contest, been a member of a dance troupe and a contributor in the college paper. In fact, our group was the champion in the Group Pantomime Competition.
It was February 1991 when the factory wherein I was employed had been closed due to labor strike. I went back into selling cooked food in one corner of a well-known subdivision in Meycauayan just to support my last semester of study before graduation. I just borrowed monies for my jeepney fare so that I can attend the graduation ceremony together with my mother. When I stepped on the stage, I could not even stretch my legs because I am so hungry that time. I felt physically weak. My beloved mother witnessed my graduation at last in 1991.
I tried to apply for a teaching position after graduation but most private schools offered me lower salaries which were half lower salary from a textile factory where I lastly employed. One day, a friend encouraged me to apply as waiter in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia because I had a part-time job experience as waiter in an exclusive hotel in Manila. Luckily, I was hired but for the first two months abroad, I was a merchandiser in a supermarket wherein I have to lift up heavy items in a dump truck then downloading these again. I did these tasks three times a day in a 12-hour basis of work time. Again, I was not used to it. I felt so weak. The store managers could not understand the English language. They shouted and said bad words to me every time I could not carry heavy loads but I ignored it. They allowed me to transfer in a restaurant when there was somebody newly arrived from the Philippines. After I served as janitor in a Filipino restaurant then I became waiter for more than three years then a cashier/waiter wherein one of my tasks was to supervise the operation of the restaurant.
When I arrived here in the Philippines in 1994, I prepared for the Professional Board Examination for Teachers; Career Service Professional Examination which both I took in 1995. Luckily, I passed the two professional exams. In the same year, I started to practice my profession as elementary and high school teacher in a private school. While teaching in a private school, I pursued my graduate study in Manila for two years until I passed the Comprehensive Examination. I lacked just one subject which is thesis writing to finish the degree. After four years of employment, I transferred to a public school here in Meycauayan City. I had been employed also as part-time college instructor here in Meycauayan College, my alma mater, and in a public college here in Meycauayan City. Within thirteen years of continuous service in both private and public institutions, I did share all my skills and expertise to elementary, high school and college students. I did participate with my colleagues and school heads in any assigned tasks to improve the quality of education in our school. For professional growth, I attended various seminars, trainings and workshops. I tried also to contribute articles for science magazines of a publishing company here in Meycauayan City.
Last year, I passed the Praxis II Exam with a higher score. This was a professional examination given to any professional teachers in the world conducted by a licensing agency of United States of America for teacher certification. To sum up, I passed already four major professional examinations which I did not expect to happen when I was still a kid. The history repeats itself, now that I am applying for a teaching position abroad. I passed already the interview and I completed already the required documents. My only problem at present is the processing and placement fees. That is why I ask the Lord to give me some signs. My 84-year old mother wants me to stay here in the Philippines. According to her, she is now very old. It hurts me every time she says that statement and every time I say goodbye to her. My mother also said that I have already job here so why I should go so far. I love my mother so much but I want also to improve my life and the lives of our family better. It is a very difficult decision again. Would I stay to take good care of my mother and the rest of my family or to follow the next plan? I am asking for several signs to God for my next decision in life.
However, I would like to widen my horizon and to continuously do public service here and abroad. Always remember: “Do what is right in order to be good rather than do what is good in order to be right.” “Not all good things are right but all right things are good.”

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Ang Iyong Nanay

6 Dec

Nanay at Nato

 

Sa pagdadalantao at pagpapakain sa iyo, ang iyong Nanay ang nag-alaga sa iyo.

Sa pag-aalaga sa iyo kung ikaw ay magsakit, ang iyong Nanay ang nagmamalasakit.

Sa pagmamalasakit sa iyo upang ikaw ay makapag-aral, ang iyong Nanay ang palaging nangangaral.

Sa pangangaral sa iyo upang ikaw ay lumaki ng matiwasay, ang iyong Nanay ang umaalalay at umaagapay.

Sa pag-aagapay sa iyo upang paglabanan ang anumang unos sa buhay, ang iyong Nanay ay nariyan at dumaramay.

Sa pagdamay at pagtulong mo sa kapwa, ang iyong Nanay ay natutuwa sa iyong mga gawain

Sa iyong mga gawain na kaaya-aya, ang iyong Nanay ay masaya sa iyong pinapakita.

Sa iyong mga kita para sa iyong ama’t ina at pamilya, sa kanilang dalawa ay sadyang napakahalaga.

Sa iyong pagpapahalaga sa pamilya, ang iyong Nanay ang nagturo sa iyo, di ba?

Sa iyong pagtuturo saan man, ang pangaral ng iyong Nanay ang hindi mo makalimutan kailanman.

Sino ka man at saan ka man, hanapin at sundin ang iyong Nanay

Kaya, habang ang iyong Nanay ay nabubuhay, buo mong pagmamahal sa kanya ibigay.

 

 

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I am a Child

22 Jul

“Yes, I did it.”

I am a child that grows bigger and wild

I need to take a walk and talk with you as a child

Make a step one, two to three until I can climb a tree

Teach me how to run and have some fun around you.

I am a child that thinks wider and bright

I need to stay here and play under the sunlight

Great outdoor experience brings up more essence

Teach me how to explore about things beyond my door.

I am a child that needs your comfort

I need your loving care and good rapport

Love me for what I am and wherever I came from

Teach me all areas of learning in the morning until evening.

I am a child that has always a dream

I need your coolness like an ice cream

Your positive attitude and good mood everyday

Teach me how to teach other children well someday.

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What is really in your name?

14 Jul

A name of a person whether it is his first name or last name does matter to him.  Whether he likes it or not, he has his own identity through his name. You can find out if his name can really help him or affect him in an every day situation.  But first of all, how do parents derive the names of their children? Let us consider the following assumptions below.

How did you get your name?

1. Parents got the first name of their newly born child from trending person’s names in their locality or in the world.  In the previous years for example, John became famous first name for the boys and Mary for the girls in the world so people followed what were trending first names that time.

2. Parents got the first name of their child from famous religious personalities in the Holy Book.  For instance, David, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Peter and Simon were some well-known personalities in the Christian world.  Therefore, Christian believers named their children after them due to their integrity and inspiring achievements.

3. Parents got the first name of their children from famous celebrities in the world whom they adore so much.  Parents were fascinating that their children will become famous too like them. These celebrities might be in the entertainment industry, sports or political communities.

4. Parents got the first name of their children by putting up together certain letters from the father’s first name or mother’s first name in order to come up with a unique and newly sounding first name for the child.  Sometimes, parents were not aware about how difficult in pronouncing their children’s first names as well as writing the correct spelling of it the way how the parents want to particularly when these children started to go to school.

5. Parents got the first name of their children wherein it is commonly associated with the last name.  For instance, if your last name sounds like an American name due to the father’s descendants even you are a purely Asian citizen, parents picked first names which can match with your last name.

6. Children got their last name due from marriage of their parents.  When a single lady and a gentleman got married, commonly happened was the children’s last name derived from their father’s last name.  Unknowingly, sometimes his last name which sounds funny created troubles in his entire life. Sometimes, it became the center of bullying in the school campus, teasing with his classmates and friends, frustration in love life, disappointment in employment which generally result to more social conflicts from the early stage of his life up to adult life.  Thus, one’s personality undesirably changed gradually.

7.  Some parents associated the first names of their children with certain things which sound nice to them such as Princess, King, Venus, Miracle, Heaven, Lucky, etc.  Parents want their children to be remembered that way with integrity, hope and success.

What is really in your name anyway?

Well, a name is really a name whatever its nature, origin, derivation and purpose. That is one’s identity for being a unique person, for being a functional part of your family or society as a whole.  No matter what it is, learn to love your name as you love your parents.  Because your name is really who you are and it means a lot more than what others expect from you.

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