because I can.

I don’t want to be different. I want to make a difference.

To do something that could make a difference in someone’s life; to help people; to be able to serve. These are the things I want to do most in my life.

I am young, barely 20 years old and still a long way from finishing my college education. At this point in my life I am still totally dependent to my parents, from the food I eat, to the clothes I wear, to my everyday expenses. I don’t have my own money; I don’t have resources that I could use to help others. I only have myself, my very limited skills and almost non-existent talent and, of course, my willingness to serve and make a difference in this world. But despite everything I lack, I still believe that I can do something in my own little way.

My heart is particularly set to help those in the hinterlands of Negros Island (but I don’t want to be a member nor am I a member of the New People’s Army---just to make things clear). I have been to very few mountainous areas in the island but I have seen how life there is. With very meager support from the government and the existence of Maoist rebels, life in the hinterlands is hard.

I am particularly concerned with the state of education in the hinterlands. A lot of children, and even adults, are only able to study in elementary and while very few finish high school, a lot of hinterland residents are only able to reach primary levels (Grades 1-3). For some of them, being able to read and write is enough.

In the boondocks, everybody works, even the children. That is why a lot of children in the mountainous parts of the country are under-educated because instead of being in school, parents send their children to the rice or sugarcane fields instead.

It is both amusing and disturbing how parents would prefer their children to marry instead of going to school. Once I heard a mother telling my grandmother (who can be so nosy sometimes that she minds everybody’s business) that it is useless to send their children to school because anyway they will only get married after studying, “so mag-asawa na lang di ba?”

This is the kind of thing that I want to change. I guess we cannot really blame the people for losing interest in sending their children to school because going to school now costs a lot even in the elementary. Plus, in the far-flung places of the country, a lot of public schools are under funded and lack a lot of important things like classrooms, chairs and books. And this problem does not only happen in the mountains, even in the cities, school facilities are greatly lacking.

I believe that education is very important and being educated is one weapon not only against poverty but also against the wiles of people who are bent on brainwashing these hinterland folks for their own gains.

But what can I do? I am just a student who is still struggling to pass my subjects, graduate and find a job. I want to do something. I want to make a difference.