How's Life

At the age of 9, Jazel has already seen some of life’s harsh realities. Growing up in poverty in the Philippines, this young boy, his sister, and his classmates face significant hardships just to get to school every day. Despite their circumstances, Jazel and the other children have such pure hearts that they share with their school mates — even though they too have almost nothing. *     *     * On school mornings, Jazel and his eldest sister, Meltchie, 10, wake up at 5. “We need to leave early, as we still have to climb the mountains for school. We don’t want to be late,” Jazel says, speaking in Cebuano, their native language. The children’s flag ceremony starts at 7:30 a.m., and class follows shortly thereafter. Jazel, Meltchie, and their schoolmates walk over a stream and through the woods to get to school, which is located on top of the mountain. While walking through the woods, they share laughter so they do not have a tiring walk to school. Every day, they cross six mountains by foot. They are uncertain about what they’ll meet along the way — like snakes, which they often see, especially during rainy seasons. “We are more afraid of destroying our slippers than seeing snakes,” Jazel shares. For these children and their parents, buying a pair of slippers is expensive. When asked about the most challenging part of going to school, Jazel says, “When heavy rains come, we can’t go home. We need to wait for the floodwaters to subside, and the mountains are very slippery.” On the way to school, most of the children stop at the stream for a quick shower. They leave their change of clothes hanging to dry while they study, then pick up their dried clothes on their way back home. All of the children stop at the spring for a drink and to refill the empty containers they bring every day, since they don’t have access to clean water in school. “If me or my classmates didn’t bring water containers, we just share the water and help each other bring it to school,” Jazel says. “In school, the only water we have is the water from the rain. It is only good to water the plants and for cleaning the classrooms,” he adds. The school has two classrooms for almost 100 children: Preschoolers and first, second, and third grades share one classroom, while fourth, fifth, and sixth grades share the other. The children sit at old wooden desks — each shared by three students in the same grade, and each row a different grade level. “Our teacher starts teaching the preschoolers, then leaves them with exercises, and after a few minute, proceeds to teach grade two, and we [grade three] are next,” Jazel explains. His school doesn’t have a canteen where they can eat their lunch. “We just eat in a shaded area, which is normally under the tree or here,” Jazel shares while he and his sister eat their lunch under a shed. The shed is dilapidated, made of old wood with a rusty galvanized iron roof. Parents have put rocks on top of the shed, afraid that strong winds will blow the roof away