Inspiring

Boy’s ‘Poor Grades’ Go Viral after Sister Shares Pride in His Efforts Despite Low Marks

In a world where parents and families often expect the children to obtain high grades in class and excel in sports as well as other activities, it is refreshing to see proof that there are also families who accept their kids no matter how poor their grades might be.

According to netizen PC Pau, they adopted the son of their family friend when he lost his mother to a medical condition and his father already has a new family. It had never been an issue with their family that they are taking care of Wayne because their families had always been close.

But they noticed early on that though the kid learned about the alphabet and started to learn how to read at age 6, he appears to have learning difficulties as the years passed by. At 12 years old, he has a difficult time talking, reading, and writing. He certainly has a difficult time in his academics, especially because he has a hard time relaying messages and constructing stories.

Photo credit: PC Pau / Facebook

Unable to read, the lessons are extra challenging to him. With no notes, the family has no idea whether he has assignments, but his classmates would often pass by their house to share their notes.

At his age, he is smaller than most of the kids and enjoys playing with games that kids about 4 to 5 years old play. According to Pau, he couldn’t keep still and plays rather loudly with his stuffed toys, showing no interest in academics.

While they had not taken him to a doctor to assess his condition, they were happy that the kid worked hard in his studies even though he’s not really interested in school. His grades might be low but even an 80 is already a big thing for him!

They thought he might have to repeat Grade 6 but the kid happily announced that he would be graduating from elementary – and this he was able to do with an average of 76.

Photo credit: PC Pau / Facebook

“Many people might question “Why was he allowed to graduate with that kind of average?” or “He is barely able to read and write, how did he pass?”
The thing is he tried and kept trying.
He tried to focus, but the urge to play is stronger.
He tried to listen, but there are things that he is more interested in doing.
He tried explaining, but he did not know how to.
We never scolded him, we never made him feel like he did not know anything. We never made him feel bad about himself because we know that behind those almost failing grades, behind those unexplained explanations, were dreams and a great character.”

Kudos to this family for accepting Wayne wholeheartedly. But many netizens are hoping he could also find help with his condition.

Inspiring

Jeepney Driver Offered Free Rides for One Day after Son Becomes Engineer

A jeepney driver offered free rides for one day after his son became a licensed engineer.

His story went viral after it was shared by a nursing student who became one of his passengers that day.

Jeepney Driver Offered Free Rides to Celebrate Son’s Success

Parents remain the proudest people when it comes to their children – and it’s really sweet to hear stories of proud parents announcing their children’s success to the world.

When Joseph Salcedo passed the February 2023 Mechanical Board Exams, his dad (Papa Rey) was so proud of his accomplishment that he offered free rides to all his passengers that day.

A jeepney driver, Papa Rey had promised to give out a free rides if his son passes the licensure exams.

He reportedly made this promise at their church.

According to the new engineer, his dad had initially planned on just giving out free rides for one trip or round. But his dad felt so proud of having an engineer son that he decided to treat all his passengers to the free ride for the entire day!

Mark Cynric Baldesco Beriña, a nursing student, was among Papa Rey’s lucky passengers.

jeepney driver offered free rides — Photo credit: Mark Cynric Baldesco Beriña / The Summit Express

According to Beriña, he had no idea about the free ride until he was about to pay for the fare. Papa Rey happily told him that he didn’t have to pay, proudly announcing his son’s success.

Although he was just one of the passengers, Beriña said that he also felt proud of Papa Rey and his son’s success as he congratulated them both.

Meanwhile, Papa Rey’s son was amused and also quite happy over what his father had done to celebrate his achievement. Because they don’t own the jeep, he said that he offered to pay for his dad’s “boundary” that day.

But here’s more good news: the jeepney owner was also so happy that Papa Rey’s son is now an engineer – and didn’t let him pay the boundary as well. Cool, isn’t it?

What’s a “Boundary” in Philippine Transport?

In the Philippines, public transport vehicle owners charge a “boundary” or a fixed amount of money that their drivers need to pay as rent for the vehicle.

Often, the drivers get to take home any amount they earn above the boundary, though they also have to pay the full boundary amount even if they didn’t earn enough for the day.

Inspiring

Former Street Sweeper Sends Five Kids to College, Finds Fortune by Selling Tableya

A former street sweeper finds good fortune and sends her five kids to college by selling tableya – and she has become an inspiration to many.

Today, all her five kids have finished their studies, and their home is now a favorite tourist destination. Wow!

Former Street Sweeper Finds Good Fortune in Tableya

People are born with different challenges and fortunes in life. It is said that even if you’re born poor, you can turn your life around and change your destiny.

That’s what Elsa Polot, a mother of five in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, managed to achieve as she found good fortune through hard work.

Back in 1994, Polot worked as a street sweeper. It’s a blue-collar job with low pay. Her husband didn’t earn much as a tricycle driver.

former street sweeper — Photo credit: CDN Digital

With five kids to support, Polot decided to find other ways to earn extra income. That’s when she started roasting cocoa beans to make tableya. It’s a tablet-like traditional Filipino food product (“tableya” means “tablet”) made of ground cocoa beans.

To make ends meet, she spent time preparing these products and selling them to her neighbors. She also sold her products on the streets of their city.

Thanks to her determination and hard work, Polot was able to send all her five children to college.

Kids Upgrade the Family Business

All her hard work didn’t go to waste. Not only are her children professionals, they’re also helping upgrade the business.

Dalareich, a Computer Engineering graduate, also studied in Belgium where she learned the latest technology in tableya processing. She also bought machines to improve their production.

Amazingly, the family’s tableya products are now being exported to Japan, Australia, and Sweden.

From simply making tableya, the family business has upgraded into a chocolate factory!

Chocolate “Shoes”; Photo credit: CDN Digital

Today, not only are they producing chocolate, their home has also become a tourist spot known as the “Chocolate House.”

Uses of Tableya

“Tsokolate” (syrupy chocolate to match with puto maya)
Hot or cold cocoa beverage
Chocolate shake
Chocolate cookies
Chocolate products

Inspiring

“Mango Flute” Girl Who was Cyber-Bullied at 14, Now a Licensed Engineer

Do you remember the “mango flute” girl who was cyber-bullied back when she was just 14 years old? She’s a licensed engineer now – and looks back to the experience with an advice for others who are experiencing a similar situation…

Cyber-Bullied “Mango Flute” Girl Becomes a Licensed Engineer

People make mistakes. Whether big or small, it’s often how we handle the situation and our attitude that can help us overcome the challenges that this mistake brought to our lives.

Pauline Claire Arucan was only 14 years old when she was subjected to intense cyber-bullying, not just by her classmates but she feels like it was the “entire Philippines” that trolled her at the time.

It all started with an innocent post about a delicious dessert, which she called as “mango flute.”

The young girl soon posted a follow-up, telling off someone for correcting her that the spelling should have been “mango float.” Instead of accepting her fault or realizing her mistake, she laughed off the correction for being a mistake – after all, is the mango really floating in a mango float?

She added “magic???” to her post, before ending it with “aral poh kasi muna” (that’s why you really should study first).

Of course, she’s the one who made the mistake – and the “mango float” correction was, indeed, correct.

Due to her attitude at the time, and the fact that many people are actually unsure about the dessert’s correct spelling, the post went viral.

Arucan now recalls that she experienced so much cyber-bullying at the time. Still, even if she regrets the tweet now, she was able to rise up and overcome the challenges that followed.

Proving that the spelling mistake was a one-off, she went on to get 1st place in a spelling bee contest at her alma mater, Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

She didn’t let that one situation get her down – and she recently shared about becoming a registered mechanical engineer.

What’s a Spelling Bee?

This is a competition wherein contestants are asked to spell a selection of words, ranging in difficulty. The contestants should provide the spellings of the words as written in dictionaries.