Abando: Hope for the uneducated

GETTING quality education is one of the best ways to be successful in life. Without it, job opportunities that would lead to a stable life become harder to get.

In Davao City, not all are able to get this quality education. Some of them are those who hail from some faraway mountain village and end up in the urban city to work. It is sad to know that some of them don’t even get to finish elementary.

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Brendo, 29, is one of those who looked for a better life in the city. He finished only fourth grade and was a farmer in Nabunturan, Compostella Valley harvesting bananas, rice, and coconuts.

According to him, farming wasn't a reliable source of income since this will all depend on the harvest, and so he decided to try his luck in the city.

For 10 years now, he has been working as a hand-painter and craftsman for a local Philippine handmade souvenirs company. He creates frames, penholders, bookmarks, letter-openers, and the like – things that are far from what he did back in Nabunturan.

Two lumads named Reson, 22, and Toto, 25, work with Brendo. They have been working in the company for five to six years now.

Similarly, the two worked as coconut farmers in their provinces before transferring to Davao to look for a better job. Reson finished grade four, Toto, grade three.

However, despite their lack of educational attainment, each of them now earn an amount ranging from 4,000 to 8,000 pesos a month – a salary not all people who didn’t finish elementary normally get.

Brendo said, in contentment, that this amount is far better than what they get from the farm.

“Okay na di na mag-aral. Pwede na man siguro ni na panginabuhian(It’s okay for me not to study anymore. I think this job is already enough),” Brendo added.

These young men show that lack of education may limit the opportunities available to a person but it can never stop them from becoming more than what others expect of them. Developing a skill, working hard, and being determined matter more than anything else.

With all these, there will always be hope for the less educated.

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Sunday Essays are articles submitted by Masscom students of the Ateneo de Davao University for their advanced journalism class.