SPECIAL FEATURE: How kindness and technology changed a life

CEBU, Philippines -  She dons a school uniform like the rest of the students at the University of the Visayas. Like many of them who dream of a better future with a college degree, she buries herself in school work to get good grades. But while many of her fellow enrollees have the muscle to churn a 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. class schedule, Aurelia Alburo struggles to keep in step. She’s 63.

Aurelia’s journey back to school began evening on July 28 inside a jeepney that was travelling from Barangay Talamban in Cebu City to Mandaue City.

With no more money to pay for fare, Aurelia had asked for P6 from another passenger only to be ignored. That misfortune, however, would later turn out to be a major turning point in Aurelia’s life as her rejection caught the attention of another passenger, Marivee Ann Velasquez.

“From then on, I didn’t take my eyes off her. I started becoming concerned. Not sure if I should butt in and give her money or if I’d just stay out of it,” Marivee would write later on her Facebook page.

Another passenger eventually paid for Aurelia’s fare but Aurelia realized she had taken the wrong jeepney. It was at this point when Marivee took the courage to ask Aurelia where she was headed to.

As it turned out, Aurelia was supposed to take a ride to Colon Street in downtown Cebu City where she would reportedly start walking to Barangay Mambaling in the south to wash clothes to earn money. Where they were at that point in the jeepney was at the opposite end of Cebu City in the north.

Shocked at what she learned, Marivee volunteered to take Aurelia to the nearest jeepney terminal where she could take a ride straight to Barangay Mambaling. On their way to the terminal, however, Marivee had the feeling that Aurelia had not had dinner so she brought the old woman to a fast food chain.

There, Marivee spoke to Aurelia and learned more than what she bargained for.

“It really moved me that someone at the age of 63 would still want to finish studying! It was her one greatest wish,” Marivee wrote on Facebook.

After eating, Marivee decided they might as well ride a taxi to the nearest terminal only to see Aurelia cry out of gladness. It was reportedly the old woman’s first time to ride the cab.

“It broke my heart but at the same time was glad to have given her one of her firsts,” Marivee said.

When they reached the jeepney terminal, Marivee decided to give Aurelia her remaining cash so the woman could reach her destination safely. She also promised to see her again at the Sto. Rosario Church.

Later that day, Marivee shared her experience with Aurelia on Facebook and asked that she be given help.

“I know that this is a very lengthy post but I just want you guys to know that she deserves that scholarship - the chance to finish her studies. So please, if the right people can see this. They might have the heart to give her scholarship. And we can all be instruments of her dream coming true,” Marivee said.

Like many touching stories online, Marivee’s post, which included a photo of Aurelia at the fast food chain, went viral. As of this writing, it generated 4,889 ‘likes’ and 357 comments and has been shared 1,677 times.

The best part about it, perhaps, was when it caught the attention of UV Vice President for Academics Jackie Gullas Weckman. In a private message to Marivee, Weckman said that the school’s guidance counselors had gone to the Sto. Rosario Church and in Barangay Mabolo where Aurelia lives with a relative to search for the woman.

“Don’t worry, we won’t give up looking for Manang Aurelia,” Weckman’s message reads.

The good news came three days later when Weckman told Marivee they have found Aurelia and had her enrolled at UV. 

Thankful

Aurelia could only be ecstatic at how the heavens answered her prayer.

In an interview with The FREEMAN, Aurelia said she prayed every day that she be given the chance to return to school.

“Dalaygon ang Diyos. Hallelujah!” she said.

She finished elementary when she was 14 years old but went to high school only at 31.

As it turned out, she had started taking units for a Bachelor of Elementary Education degree at UV in 2008 but stopped a year later because she could no longer afford to pay tuition.

She said it was a struggle for her at that time because she had to work to pay for school. She washed and ironed clothes, cleaned houses, and did other household chores. At her age, the work left her with very less energy for school. Because of exhaustion, there was always a chance for her to fall asleep in class.

“Lisod kaayo kay mabahin ang akong concentration kon nagtrabaho samtang nagtuon,” Aurelia shared. 

She shared that she was too tempted to enroll again this year but backed out when she found out that she had to pay for the remaining P20,000 balance she incurred back in 2009.

This time around, however, UV’s executive vice president and vice president for finance Jose “Dodong” Gullas  assured her that all her school fees have been paid in full.

Aurelia said she could not thank Marivee enough for paving the way for her to be in school again.

She said she could only pray for Marivee and the Gullas families in return.

Looking back

A native of Cawayan, Masbate, Aurelia recalled that she used to walk for five hours from her remote village to the town’s capital just to go to school.

“Mogikan ko sa kadlawon. Maglakaw sa dalan nga lugsongon nya batoon pa gyud,” she shared.

Farming was her family’s only source of income and when her parents passed away, she said she could not stop from worrying how she could ever proceed to high school. Her siblings were only able to graduate elementary.

The situation might have dampened her spirits but it did not stop her from pursuing her dream of an education. Aurelia said this made her cross the seas to Cebu to work. Here, she became a vendor, a salesgirl at a grocery store and an assistant at a pharmacy.

She revealed that because she wanted to save as much earnings as she could for school, she ended up asking for fare from fellow passengers in the jeepney. At that point, she only reportedly had P2 or P3 in her pocket. 

She said she had experienced being shouted at by jeepney drivers when she failed to pay her fare fully and how passengers would just stare at her when she asked for money.

“Di ra sad ko mamugos. Magpasalamat ra ko sa ila,” she said.

That time she managed to enroll in college, the younger students would reportedly mock her.

“Naa’y moingon sa akoa nga, “nganong mu-eskwela pa man ka? Di na man na kinahanglan nimo. Retiree na imong edad” she quoted them as saying, to which she would simply stay silent.

And because she did not have a house here, she reportedly often moved from one relative to another so she could have a place to stay in. She currently stays with a third-degree relative in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City and said she is thankful that she does not need to pay for rent.

Her regret, she said, is that she had lost contact with her siblings.

Looking forward

Aurelia will turn 64 on October 21 but she said that with all the blessings that have come her way, she could not ask for anything more. She said she will celebrate her birthday by hearing mass.

She revealed that she has always wanted to become a teacher and she intends to be one once she graduates.

“Bahala’g tiguwang na, motudlo gihapon ko. Kon mao ni ang kabubut-on sa Ginoo, ako ning buhaton,” she said.

Aurelia said she particularly wants to teach children and share the word of God with them.

“Inosente pa man ang mga bata. Matudloan pa sila sa pag-ampo ug sa pagsangpit sa Ginoo,” she said.

Because she does not have a family of her own, Aurelia said it would be her privilege to act as a mother to her students – to guide and discipline them just like parents do.

“Naulipon pud ang mga ginikanan sa ilang negosyo o trabaho. Igo na lang tagaan og kwarta ilang mga anak. Mao ang mga kabatan-onan karon nagpaka-aron ingnon nga estudyante aron makadawat og kwarta unya wa diay mu-eskwela,” she said.

For now, Aurelia says she will continue to pray that she will be given enough strength to fight it out until the end of her course. When she finally does in 2016, she will be the first among her siblings to earn a baccalaureate degree.

“Ganahan gyud ko makahuman og skwela. Maka-claim ko nga naabot nako akong pangandoy tungod sa akong pagpaningkamot ug pagsalig sa Ginoo,” she said.

 She hopes that young people will emulate Marivee by using technology and social media for the good, as by doing so may change lives just like what it did to hers.

For the rest who continue to doubt, Aurelia said these words in between tears: “Salig lang gyud sa Ginoo. Ayaw pagkawala og paglaom, bahala og unsa na imong edad.” — /JMO (FREEMAN)