Sunday, August 31, 2008 In Side B, children dream of degrees By Carmel Loise Matus STC Mass Communication
THEIR learning is like bread in a besieged town: every man gets a little, but no man gets a full meal.
Situated in the farthest part of Puntod, Alaska, Mambaling is the Moro community of Cebu City. Hundreds of families live here in shanties made of bamboo, pieces of plywood and plastic covering. Here, three to four families share some of the houses. And here lives a 13-year-old girl with simple dreams.
“Ganahan gyud ko makahuman ug pag-eskwela para makatabang sa akong pamilya. (I really want to finish my studies so I can help my family),” said Angel (not her real name).
The eldest of the six children of Pina, Angel is a freshman in one of the public high schools in the city. Pina said that their family has been here since Martial Law. After a fire devastated their community in Naba, Alaska, Mambaling in April 2004, their community moved to its relocation site in Puntod.
The Moro community here is divided into two communities: side A, where the better-off Moro families live, and side B, where struggling families live. According to Jonephere Nocos, Gender and Development “focal person” of Barangay Mambaling, this land where the Moro community now resides is the lot provided by the Cebu City Government.
“They were not welcome in the proposed relocation site in Tonggo Island after the fire that burned down their community in 2004. It was the City Government that gave this piece of land to the Moro community,” said Nocos.
According to data provided by Nocos, 85 households with 91 families live in the Side A, while 110 households with 158 families reside in Side B.
Angel and her family live in the side B area. Angel’s family, like most of the families living here, makes and sells beaded accessories for a living. While some may think that this side of the Moro community is hopeless and capable only of begging, Angel is living proof that they too strive hard to finish school, even if it means selling accessories downtown.
“Education is one of the most valued things to a Moro. It is their way of having a more comfortable life for their family. It is the only precious gift a Moro could give to their children,” said Pina in Bisaya.
Pina, like most parents in the side B community, wants to see her children grow up to professionals, rising despite their living conditions.
There are 651 children in side B. Not all of them go to school. Financial constraints, criticism and maltreatment from others discourage them from going to school, said Pina.
Roda (real name withheld), 15, explained they get hurt whenever people label them as “Badjaos” or “Moklo.” To them, these terms refer to someone who does bad deeds to others.
Despite uncertainty in her college prospects, Angel aspires that one day, people will not look down on them. She wants to not worry about the names people call her. She is eager to finish school and earn a degree in teaching. She wants to inspire other children in the community that there’s hope for them.
Like the innocence in the eyes of a child, Angel hopes for a brighter tomorrow for her and the other children in the community.
