Every day this teacher walks for 2 hours and crosses 5 rivers to reach the school where she teaches
How much does the distance from home to work affect your daily life?
Who knows how many of you are commuters and must, every morning, make a journey of one, two or more hours to reach your workplace.
In life, on the other hand, we know that sacrifices must be made. If, however, you are lucky enough to have the job of your dreams, then you are even more motivated.
Case in point is Elizabeth Miranda who lives in the Philippines and is an elementary teacher who, every day, to get to school, has to walk for two hours and, as if this were not enough, she also has to cross five rivers.
This is a huge responsibility that this woman voluntarily fulfills every day in order to educate the children in her community.
Although getting to school every day in this way is very demanding. this elementary teacher is confident and believes that all her sacrifices are being rewarded by the fact that "her" children are learning and improving.
Moreover, Miranda knows that education is essential to getting out of the poverty in which so many communities find themselves, and she hopes that her efforts can bring positive change and create optimism within her community.
In fact, Miranda is the only teacher willing to make the journey to teach the children living in Sitio Barogante, located in the Western Mindoro Province, which is an area of the Phillippines that is extremely remote.
Her journey to work, in which she also crosses five rivers, takes about three hours. Every morning. And while some rivers are easily crossed, others are rather difficult and Miranda needs some assistance from other people.
In fact, to cross some rivers, the teacher must use the so-called "salbabida", small rubber life preservers that facilitate the journey.
The school where Miranda teaches, of course, is not a school with all the comforts, like most Western schools are, but instead, it is a small building where the children who attend do not even have anything to eat most of the time.
Despite these important shortcomings, the children are very happy to go to school and Miranda is very motivated to continue her mission as an educator.
There are days when morale is low and the young woman is tempted to give up everything, but every time she sees the joy in the eyes of the children she teaches, her hopes for the future are rekindled.
Consequently, the woman is trying, by telling her story, to shine a spotlight on the poverty in which the children of Sitio Barogante live, in the hopes that the Phillippine government will build bridges and, perhaps, a better and safer school for both the students and their teacher.
This is a story that clearly demonstrates great courage and determination.
