DANDEE BITANCOR, 24, comes from a poor family but he has always been rich in dreams.

To support himself through college, he worked at odd jobs here and there. A scholarship took care of his tuition while he got free board and lodging in a friend?s house by taking care of her son.

Recently, a simple but very practical environmental project earned him a free trip to Germany courtesy of the pharmaceutical and crop science company Bayer.

Staring at the massive Cologne Cathedral, the biggest in Germany, he said, ?This is more than enough as a reward for everything I have gone through.?

One of the country?s four delegates to this year?s Bayer Young Environmental Envoys (BYEE) Program in Germany, Bitancor is determined to earn a college degree.

He said he enjoyed learning and going to school made him happy. But after finishing high school in 2002 in Sorsogon with first honorable mention honors, Bitancor, the fourth of seven children, had to put his dream on hold for a while.

An older brother was in college and his father?s meager earnings as a farmer were barely enough to cover his expenses.

Bitancor never complained. He understood how hard it was for his parents. He did not even tell them he had been offered a college scholarship.

As he waited for his turn to pursue a college degree, he worked as a nanny in Metro Manila. But he was always thinking of the day when he would finish college, work in Italy, and help his other siblings finish their studies.

After four years of hard work, he had saved P13,000?enough to enroll at the Sorsogon State College.

His plans were put on hold again, however, when his father was diagnosed with lung cancer. ?I told my father I didn?t care if my savings all went to his medicines, as long as he recovered,? said Bitancor.

Sadly, the father didn?t.
After the funeral, Bitancor headed for the neighboring province of Albay and took the entrance examination at the Bicol University. He decided that if he passed the test, then he was meant to go to college.

While waiting for the test results and to raise money for his expenses should he pass, he worked again as a nanny in Metro Manila.

When the results were announced six months later, he had managed to save only P5,000, barely enough for first semester tuition. And he also needed a place to stay and money for other necessities.

A friend he met in Metro Manila offered free accommodations in a relative?s house in Albay in exchange for babysitting her son who was staying there.

But the owner of the house would switch off the lights while Bitancor was studying to reduce their electric bill. When he tried to read by candlelight, the owner worried he would start a fire. Soon the owner also started to be physically abusive.

When Bitancor?s friend learned of his ordeal, she arranged for him and her son to move to an apartment.

To earn extra money, Bitancor also worked as a library assistant, and went into direct selling after class, going house to house to offer beauty products.

He did his friends? laundry and his classmates? researches for a fee.

Bitancor said, ?I wanted to finish college. I know a lot of people were disappointed when I failed to enroll immediately after high school. I wanted to show them I could fulfill my dream.?

In his junior year, Bitancor was elected member of the student council and got a 50 percent discount on tuition fees. That same year he got accepted into the school?s academic scholarship program.

And his project brought him to Germany, so close to Italy where he hopes to work someday.

Bitancor said, ?I am grateful that the Lord gave me all these blessings. These are more than what I expected.? Edson C. Tandoc Jr.