At 40, Marichu Amarillo, like her children, goes to school daily. Every day, she has to juggle her schedule being a student, a mother and an entrepreneur. Through the years, she has learned to embrace this daily struggle, believing that her perseverance will bring a better life for her family.

Ate Marichu’s family is one of the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in Mauban, Quezon. In the Family Development Sessions (FDS) she attended as part of her responsibilities to the program, she learned to value education. So when provided with an opportunity, she started going back to school without forgetting her responsibility of providing for her family especially her children.

Mother First, Student Second

Ate Marichu understands the importance of education for the future of a person. Not being able to finish her high school studies, she understands that life can be better for her family if she was given an opportunity to finish her studies. Hence, she keeps on encouraging her five children to go to school.

Her enrolling again was not planned rather, it is a statement she is leaving her children with, especially the eldest. According to her, she was swaying her eldest to continue her schooling after finishing high school. However, she refused to. Ate Marichu challenged her that if she does not want to, she’ll be the one to enroll.

Upon enrolling in Alternative Learning System and soon passing the Accreditation Equivalency Test, she was convinced to continue her education to college. Now, she is taking up BS in Education.

But despite being a busy student, Ate Marichu does not forget her responsibilities as a mother. She still manages to sell siopao every day to help her husband, a part-time laborer, earn a living for their family. For Ate Marichu, she does not care how difficult it is to juggle her life as a student and as a mother. What is important is that she is able to provide for her children and she is taking a step closer to her dreams of providing a better life for all of them.

For Ate Marichu, a typical school day will mean waking up early in the morning to get her children ready to school and then prepare the siopao she cooked the night before. She brings the siopao in school and sells them to her professors and classmates. When she manages to get a vacant time, she reviews for her classes.

The Value of Education

Being a beneficiary of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program means a lot to Ate Marichu, especially when it comes to the education of her children. Her second child, Marlette, is in college taking up Mechanical Engineering. According to her, she is able to support her because she no longer has to worry about the expenses of her younger children. After all, Marlette is supported by various scholarship programs in their locality.

Moreover, despite her busy schedule, Ate Marichu does not forget her responsibilities as a beneficiary of the program. She continuously encourages her children to go to school, she even makes a good example to all of them by being diligent in her studies.

She does not forget attending FDS, too. For her, the FDS provides her new learning that she cannot acquire in the four corners of her classroom. One of the things she is thankful for, besides teaching her the value of education, is how one of the sessions taught her to properly manage her time. Now, she is able to apply this learning and sees its importance as she juggles her life as a mother, student and entrepreneur daily.

“Tinuruan ako ng programa na maging mas responsable. Hindi lamang ako kundi ang mga kasamahan ko. Dito ko natutunan kung paano gamitin dapat ang pera at kung anong direksyon ang dapat susundan,” she shared.

For Ate Marichu, her way of raising her family today is her preparation for their future. Even without the assistance from the program, she is determined to keep her children in school. The value of education for her is unquestionable. In fact, she cannot wait to be a teacher herself someday so she can change lives of children as well through educating them. (NJMMayor)***