Strengthening the ties that bind

They share in different ways. Some there are that give, but give lightly. Some drop hefty sums. Some others give and then are heard no more. However small or big their wherewithal, the world is still the better for them.

Still others give and give, again and again, as if the first times weren't enough, and thus, deserved another tour around the block. Charge it to commitment. "We believe that the greatest legacy we can give our children is education," says Steve Paradies, board trustee in the Aboitiz Group Foundation, Inc. (AGFI). And so, donations so far since the start have come through scholarship grants for 4,937 high school students and 582 college students, 33 computer laboratories, 545 computers, 15 day care centers, 4 libraries and 116 classrooms.

After the initial donations of infrastructures, what? Especially after a tv commercial says its best, "Lahat ay kumukupas." Nothing material or mortal can defy the elements. And so, in 3 to 8 years since construction, classrooms and even buildings show the wear and tear. The answer: Initiate infrastructure projects repair and maintenance activities. Thus, two years ago, the AGFI bolstered its education program by repairing and renovating where it had built. Take Alex Padillo, Cindy Gamboa and Agie Ganza, three of the 600 students at the Zapatera Night High School. At the turnover ceremonies last week, there was no mistaking the pride and happiness on their faces. Because of the computer donations, they all plan to be computer technicians a few years from now. The renovation of their computer laboratory cemented that resolve. As before, they look forward to the lab more often. Daily would be best, but they're working students. That means working during the day from 6 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon five days a week. It's classes from 4 to 9 pm Mondays to Fridays, and whole days Saturdays from 7 am to 5 pm.

The eldest of seven children, twenty-year-old Alex does upholstery work at a furniture factory in MEPZ II. He proudly shows off his employee I.D. Throughout his shift, he cuts the foam, wraps the pillow and attaches the garter. Before his present job, he helped around with auto electrical jobs at Sulpicio Lines. Just one month into his present job, he already has a motorcycle to take him from home along Hernan Cortes in Mandaue City, to work in Lapulapu City, and then school in Cebu City. But because classes begin right when his shift ends, he dropped his 4 pm subject, and plans to make up for it during summer classes.

Can your salary cover the monthly amortization? How about gasoline expenses? A sheepish smile after, he says he and his father share the amortization because they both use the motorcycle. So, too, for their gasoline expenses.

As is true for working students like them, sleep is an expensive commodity. Sometimes, Alex is forced to miss classes, especially after a couple of times when he dozed off on his motorcycle while driving. Except for the sound of an oncoming vehicle, he would have fallen into great harm. Like Alex, Agie Ganza wishes he could sleep longer. But at 5 am, this nineteen-year-old high school senior rushes to man the four stalls of his aunt on T. Padilla Street. There he sells rice to an average of 50 customers per day, and when the hired help is absent, has to carry the sacks of rice himself. Once a year, he attends to renewing his aunt's license for these stores.

Before his present job, Agie worked in an auto shop as a mechanic-helper. The youngest of four children, he lives with his aunt. "Lisud kaayo ang kinabuhi (Life is hard)", he says, but if he doesn't work, he knows he has no future. So, he takes each day as hurdle to overcome, and thanks God each time he does. At nineteen, Agie has the seriousness of one twice his age, and you're hit by a mixture of pride for his maturity, and of sadness over perhaps a missed childhood.

Like Alex and Agie, Cindy's conviction is to become a computer technician. Already, this sixteen-year-old high school junior has decided on a school in Colon for her two-year course. One of ten children to a father who works as a messenger at a ticket office, and a mother who stays home to attend to children aged eighteen to 3, Cindy had to be a working student since she was twelve. For six years now, she works in her uncle's canteen at City Sports Club. There she cleans the floor and glass windows, then serves food and washes the dishes.

Cindy's salary allows her to pay P 432 in full for her yearly tuition, and pay for her uniform and school supplies. She amusedly recounts that for a long time now, she hasn't received any allowance from her parents. Instead, she helps send her seven siblings to school.

Aside from becoming computer technicians and lack of sleep, what do Cindy, Agie and Alex have in common? Memorized breakfast. Simply because there's hardly time to take breakfast as they rush from wake up at 5 am to work. Their two meals a day begin with brunch between 10 and 11 am. Alex, however, takes no chances. "Lisud kaayo kung walay trabaho," (It's difficult to be jobless), he says. So, he takes his daily Revicon with his brunch. Nothing will stop him from finishing high school and realizing his dream to be a computer technician.

This resolve jibes well with AGFI's mission to help people help themselves. Started less than a year ago, its repair and maintenance project has already renovated 50 computer labs and school buildings of twenty schools, including the Cebu City National Science High School, Abellana National High School, . The pipeline for this year is full, with other schools and day care centers already identified. Like the Zapatera Night High School, these future beneficiaries and their students will be no less happy nor expectant. EVP and Managing Trustee Sonny Carpio says these projects not only strengthen the resolve of AGFI, DepEd, the schools and the parent-teacher associations of such schools, but also strengthen the ties that bind.