Jemrose
Uplift Cares Alternative Learning System Graduate 2015
Uplift Cares Staff 2018 onwards
Uplift Plus College Scholar 2020
I grew up in Bukidnon under the care of my grandparents. When I was just 5 years old, I started to understand how hard life is because we lived in poverty. On some days, we did not have anything to eat. I even had to walk 4 kilometers every day just to go to school. There were also days where I had to skip class because I had to help out my grandparents in harvesting sugar cane and corn, or help them gather firewood in the forest. Our income was always just enough to pay for our debts. This is when I understood how important work and money is.
In 2005, my grandfather had a stroke. I was forced to stopped high school because his medical expenses were too much for our finances. My parents could not support me either because my father was an alcoholic. At the tender age of 15, I started working as a household helper. I also tried to earn my living by working in a drying fish stall in our province where I could earn 70 pesos per day. In 2008, I decided to go to Manila to try and find my life there.
When I was just 5 years old, I started to understand how hard life is because we lived in poverty. On some days, we did not have anything to eat.
In my heart, I always wanted to go back to school. Every night, I would pray for an opportunity to be able to study again.
In Manila, I worked as a household helper for 7 years. In my heart, I always wanted to go back to school. Every night, I would pray for an opportunity to be able to study again. In 2013, one of my neighbors invited me to attend CCF and introduced me to the teacher from Uplift Cares. The teacher said that I could study and finish high school for free, so I hurriedly went back home to get the permission of my employer if I could study and work at the same time. I doubled my efforts to simultaneously do both my studies and my work.
In 2015, I graduated the Alternative Learning System program of Uplift Cares and I also received the Highest Academic Award. Uplift Cares also gave me the opportunity to train under a TESDA Vocational Course – Building Wiring Installation and Maintenance in Meralco Foundation Institute. By God’s grace, I also graduated top of the class. Because of this opportunity, I was able to work in an industrial company as an administrative clerk for almost three years.
I thought everything was okay because I started to earn enough money to support myself. I would always forget to pray and seek for God’s guidance in my big & small victories. The Lord made me feel His presence once again through the death of my father who died because he was hit by a hard object on the head, and my mother who died a year right after because of cancer. My world fell down and I started to seek God again. It was also the time where God reconnected me to Uplift Cares.
In 2018, I applied and was hired as an administrative assistant in Uplift Cares. My new work made me realize that there are many skills which I lack. Being just a high school graduate, I would always feel inferior and that I am always a step behind of my college degree holder colleagues who are able to do their jobs excellently despite being younger than me.
I desired to study again and after much prayer, God paved the way for my dreams once again. Uplift Cares offered to support me through college as one of their scholars. I was encouraged by the verse, Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” I know in my heart that I want to grow more and that I want to be able to serve the Lord the best way that I could.
Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
This 2020, I have started my journey as an Uplift Plus College scholar. In the online classes, I have encountered many difficulties. First, I have a weak Internet connection at home. Second, it is difficult for me to understand deep English words. Third, since I stopped studying for 5 years already, it is a challenge for me to keep up. Fourth, because I am a working student who is also working from home, it is hard to find distinctions between home, work, and online class responsibilities. Most of the time, I am interrupted by situations like the water delivery boy standing outside our gate, our landlord suddenly calling me to discuss billings, etc. Because of the many responsibilities, I usually need to stay up until late dawn because I need to catch up with my studies.
But despite all the challenges I face in my online classes, I persevere because I do not want to disappoint God, my Uplift Cares family, my sponsor, and myself. I want to develop and improve myself by studying again. I remember how hard I prayed for this opportunity and now that God granted it to me, I will continue to persevere with all my might.
I remember how hard I prayed for this opportunity and now that God granted it to me, I will continue to persevere with all my might.
Before, when I was in grade school, my teacher asked me what my dream was. I said that I wanted to be a teacher. But as I grew up, I’ve learned that I wanted to serve people as an administrative head or an HR manager someday. I want to have a small business and live a simple God-fearing life. My desire is to have a comfortable life with my husband and to ensure that my future children would not encounter the same hardships as I did. I know God is always by my side and that I only need to trust His time and His ways.
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