I grew up in a poor family. I went through the same hardtimes that my parents went through before. It is tearful to think that we have born poor in this world. I'm sorry, as I write this, I'm really crying because I wasn't think the hardships of our lives back then. Both my mother and father were unemployed. But. my father is a Retired army. But, we can't receive his pension because we advance it before. So, Driving a tricycle is all we rely on, inorder to eat every day. Our tricycle was Kawasaki, which was almost made of steel because of its old age. Sometimes, we even push it, because our house is close to the mountain, then when we run out of gas and we don't have any money for buy a fuel, we just walk towards in our school.
We are seven (7) siblings and we are all still studying. I am the fifth of our siblings, but my mind seems to have matured due to the hardships of life. We make salt, soy sauce, oil, and sugar as our viand to alleviate the hunger. We used to borrow 1/2 kilos of the rice to eat and enjoy it even in a small cup of rice we had in our plates. I'm still in the nursery and I haven't even had a penny to buy something to eat inside the room. I have two younger siblings under my mother's care, while my father goes around looking for passengers. My older brothers are still in elementary school. Sometimes, they don't come into school so that they can help our mom to take care our younger sister and brother.
That was our life until I stepped into elementary school. I wanted to help my parents, so I decided to look for a job. But, it was impossible because I was too young before. My mom thought of borrowing again money even though we were already in debt. She borrowed money to buy peanuts and I would sell it inside the classroom. I'm hiding it, because we're not allowed to sell inside. That's what I do every day. Sometimes, I cry because I can't get my investment back because my other classmates are stealing peanuts from my bag. So, I just stopped selling and I just begged my classmates to share with me with their foods and I'm like a beggar before... (cry).
You know what hurts the most? When your classmates and friends are pushing you away. Then, you hear the passengers riding with your torang torang tricycle, saying, "What kind of this, it looks like the bolts of this tricycle are about to be removed. Why are we still riding here?" .. I heard that with my two ears. I heard the painful insults of the passengers. I know, my father heard that too but, he ignored it. It’s just tearful because you can really see in my dad’s eyes and face the sufferings of our life before.
We worked hard to study. I have been a consistent honor from nursery until now, a senior high school student. My older brother graduated from college with only soup as his only dish every meal. Our parents cannot give us even 10 pesos. We are deeply in debt but, my older brother still tried to graduate and apply to scholars. He was an ISKO-lar when he was in college. You know .. My older brother is just "grumaduate" that his shoes and polo are still the same from highschool. So, he is my idol older brother, who even with great difficulty he was able to graduate from college. My three older brothers did not continue their studies because they could not afford to see our parents who were deeply in debt. But, they also try their best to find work and finish high school.
As what I can see, raising a huge family is so hard. Before we step into creating a family. Always remember to plan and have a descent job that can sustain our family soon.
Coming from poor family is not the hindrance to stop dreaming and aiming our dreams. Because, our poorness before, serves us as our motivation to pursue and work harder than we can. So that we can lift up our family from poverty.
And now, we strive hard to achieve our goals in life. To help our parents and to have a better future. Laban lang talaga sa buhay, dahil ang Panginoong Diyos ay nasa gilid lamang natin upang tayo'y gabayan at tutulungan sa ano mang pagsubok na ating nararanasan sa ating buhay. God Bless US all.
Thank youuu...
