"Being a mother, a provider, and a breadwinner is one of the greatest gifts God has bestowed upon me."
Greetings to all my fellow bloggers, my name is Erma and I came from the family of farmers. I am 31 years old and the eldest among the five children. Since my childhood, we went to the farm together with my parents. At an early age, we are trained of the life of being a farmer. We do the pulling of weeds, planting crops, nourishing the crops with fertilizer, and of course harvesting. I am just lucky enough that despite our financial difficulties our parents were able to send us to school. I also engage into entrepreneurship during my primary years. I'm going to bring my mother's homemade coconut candies to school to sell to my peers. Our meals would come from the sales of the coconut candies. When mom cooked noodles or sardines for us, our dinner was already fantastic. If my classmates are eating hotdogs, sausage, and other processed meals for lunch, we already consider them to be well-off.
I've attached a picture of me pulling weeds in my garden, which was quite meaningful to me as I come from a farming family.
I'm from Salag, Tabogon, Cebu, which is known as one of the Municipality of Tabogon's hidden paradises. In addition to farming, there are a lot of aquatic animals in our area, so we went fishing and shell-hunting. The two main sources of income in our area were the farm and the sea. Since there was no water supply in our location at the time, we also did our laundry by the sea. As time goes on, our location is being developed to accommodate visitors who will be seeing the various natural landmarks that have made our destination well-known in the area. For the convenience of drivers and other vehicle owners, farm-to-market routes were also built.
This image shows one of the top locations in our barangay. This area is known as "Tugbungan". We used to wash our clothes here since we don't have a water supply before.
I completed my college degree while working. Even though I had already benefited from being an academic scholar at the beginning of my undergraduate career, it was interrupted when I took a year off from learning. I stopped going to school since my brother requires an eye operation that needs to be scheduled, and my parents won't be able to support me financially because of the large expense of my brother's surgery. After a year, I made the decision to carry on with my education and applied to the institution to be a working scholar. I'm fortunate enough to have been admitted as a working scholar. I was given the task of working in the cashier's office, where I must use extreme caution when handling any transactions. I first struggle with being assigned to the cashier's office since I must combine work and my studies, which also require my attention. I must deal with persons from various banks and other educational institutions. Kidding aside, that was the first time I had held millions of pesos that weren't mine. Fortunately, God's providence allowed me to complete my Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree and acquire many valuable life lessons. I worked for the organization for five years after being hired by them as well.
I was assigned at the College of Computer Studies and served the department as a College Instructor. I taught several classes while also taking advantage of the institution's free education policy. I completed education units, which enabled me to take and passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET). Thank you for playing a significant role in my current situation, Cebu Roosevelt Memorial Colleges!
At present, I am already a Public-School teacher, an online seller, an online tutor, and a part timer to the same institution where I was employed before. I am also currently taking my masteral degree Major in Educational Management in Cebu Roosevelt Memorial Colleges. I consider myself fortunate to have these possibilities because they help me fulfill my roles as a responsible wife, a good mother, a good provider, and a volunteer in the community. I also viewed my profession as my passion and pastime as I enjoy motivating and instructing students. Naturally, I continue to farm in a small area close to our humble home. Throughout my journey, I learned lot of things that enable me to keep going. I also enjoyed writing in my journal because this is my outlet where I can express myself the most. As a teacher, I also urged my pupils to act in this manner, particularly if they feel uncomfortable talking to others about their issues. One effective way to relieve stress is to write.
Through Teacher Smile’s reels ( ) on Facebook, I became acquainted with Hive, and I thought it was fascinating and captivating. For this reason, I messaged her to ask how I might join this community. She gave me a positive response on my wish to join the Hivers which made me pleased. When she explained to us that we could interact with other bloggers on Hive and view their work, it piqued my interest even more. This will enable me to become acquainted with various individuals worldwide via their written works. I think my ability to be a responsible and productive person will improve because of my interactions with the blogs. I envision myself contributing to Hive by highlighting the wonders of our community, a farmer’s, and teacher's life, and, of course, the various admirable qualities of Filipinos, such as the "Bayanihan" spirit. Since I am a volunteer in our community, this happens frequently, especially when we have clean-up drives and other community-building events.
I have volunteered for a community drive like this one. As the men are building the stair rails, I am one of the females who prepared the food for lunch. The volunteers' bayanihan spirit made the end product so much of a relief to see.
I want to extend my gratitude to for this wonderful opportunity and to a friend of mine who is a Hive member as well, Mr. R. Ornopia. Thanks to these wonderful people who explained and educated me, about this community. They answered my queries very well. I am lucky and blessed to be part of this community.
I look forward to interacting with and sharing ideas with other bloggers. My blogs should provide you with information on the Philippines, including its cultures and customs, well-known values, stunning locations, and abundant natural formations. I sincerely appreciate your reading. God be with us!