SAGAY CITY, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL – Pen and paper.

These two made change Arlyn Martinez’s life when she graduated in high school as a valedictorian four years ago.

Now, as she finished college, these two items along with her determination, still made a big change on her life as she graduated magna cum laude at the Philippine Normal University (PNU) in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental with a degree of Bachelor in Mathematics and Science Elementary Education.

Arlyn is now preparing to take the Licensure Examination for Teacher (LET) this September.

Arlyn is a proud daughter of a `sacada.’ This refers to a laborer or planter of sugarcane. Most of these labourers could be found in Negros Occidental, known to be the ‘sugar capital’ or ‘sugar bowl’ of the Philippines.

Living in a secluded hacienda in the city located in northern part of Negros Occidental, walking almost an hour before reaching to school is not new to her.

Fresh from her memories as she recalls her high school days, Arlyn said everyday she had to walk far or ride on her father’s carabao to get to a main road and then get a tricycle to go to school.

Arlyn said she may not have tasted the luxuries in life like living in a comfortable house just like some of her well-off classmates and schoolmates but she maintains a happy disposition.

“I am happy because love abounds in our family. I also appreciate the sacrifices of my father to provide for us. He has been working hard to feed the ten hungry mouths including my young twin sisters,” she said.

She added that, “there is nothing compared to the hard work and manual labor of my father as a `karga tapas’ (the process of manually cutting and loading sugarcane onto trucks) in the sugarcane field.”

She also said that there was even a time when her father dabbled as a sugarcane worker and then plowed the farm at night to sustain the whole family’s needs.

“Despite the difficulty in life, the brunt of poverty has been lightened because of the atmosphere of love at home,” she said.

Someday, Arlyn dreams of uplifting her family’s condition. “As what I promised to myself, I want to pay back my father’s sacrifices that’s why I study hard,” she said.

In 2012, Arlyn’s family was included in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program – the government’s anti-poverty strategy to ensure that the children are healthy and in school.

Arlyn and her two other siblings are covered by the program. On top of this, after Arlyn’s graduation from high school, she was able to avail ofthe scholarship program of their Local Government Unit (LGU).

DREAMS

Her ambition to become a teacher is way closer now. She promised that when she gets a job and gets her first salary, she wants to buy a carabao so that her father could already own one.

Arlyn told her parents Renato and Divina how lucky she is to have them.

“Despite poverty, we not need to lose hope. Let us keep dreaming and working hard because these will definitely pay off. All our sacrifices will pay off with the realization of our dreams,” Arlyn said//dswd6/MGC (With information from: Municipal Link Ma. Luna Jehan Sancho – Negros POO1).

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