MANILA, Philippines—Strict with assignments but always soft-spoken, Efren Peñaflorida is an “excellent” pushcart classroom teacher who captures the attention of his students with his animated story-telling and use of visual aids.

The teaching style of Peñaflorida inspired one of his former students, 17-year-old Michael Advincula, to become one of the pushcart teachers of Peñaflorida’s Dynamic Teen Co. (DTC), the group that earned the former a citation as CNN’s Hero of the Year.

CNN had interviewed Advincula for its website story on Peñaflorida in March. Advincula, a former scavenger who sniffed rugby instead of going to school, said joining Peñaflorida’s group had given his life a new direction.

Advincula told the Philippine Daily Inquirer Monday: “There were many changes in my life after I joined the group. I discovered my passion for education.”

Advincula first met Peñaflorida one Saturday some six years ago. He saw Peñaflorida’s group giving bread to children playing in Cavite City’s dump. Hungry, Advincula approached Peñaflorida to ask for some bread.

Peñaflorida convinced the hungry boy to join DTC’s afternoon class session. Advincula showed up and never missed the following weekly sessions, when volunteers go around slum areas in Cavite City pushing carts loaded with blackboards, books and other school supplies.

He described Peñaflorida as an “excellent” teacher who was good at motivating children. “You will really listen once he talks,” Advincula said.

Two years after, Peñaflorida encouraged Advincula to train as one of the group’s pushcart teachers.

It was difficult for him at first, Advincula said: “Some of my students looked down on me because they knew about my background.”

But he persevered and showed that people could change for the better. Though his former gang mates are now jobless fathers who never got to finish school, Advincula is preparing for college next year.

Jumping with joy

Advincula was very happy and proud when he and his fellow DTC members learned that Peñaflorida had won as CNN’s Hero of the Year on Sunday afternoon.

“We were jumping with joy,” Advincula said. “We were clapping and yelling.”

Peñaflorida’s 48-year-old mother Lucila was not surprised that her son won. She told the Inquirer she had prayed hard for her son. She was also grateful for the overwhelming support he got.

She said that even in their hometown Cavite City, support had been overwhelming.

Lucila said Peñaflorida dreamed of becoming an engineer when he was young, but he was always with his younger cousins, helping them with their school assignments.

Alternative to gangs

She said: “I saw that he was happy with what he was doing. I just encouraged him to do what he loved doing.”

Peñaflorida, 28, started DTC when he was just 16, as an alternative to joining gangs.

Born to a father who worked as a tricycle driver and to a mother who supported the family as a laundry woman, Peñaflorida almost had to drop out of grade school.

But he got financial support from Club 8586, a volunteer group based in Cavite City, and from World Vision, a group which matches sponsors to needy children.

Math, values education

Supported by these groups, Peñaflorida finished education at Cavite State University in 2003.

Though many of his contemporaries opted to seek higher-paying jobs abroad, Peñaflorida chose to stay, continuing his work with DTC as well as his teaching job at Palm Ridge School in Bacoor town where he teaches math and values education.

In an earlier interview, Peñaflorida lamented that education in the country “has become a privilege rather than a right.”

He said he believed that the solution to the country’s problems was educating the youth.

Peñaflorida said: “Education is an effective tool in our development, as long as we combine it with our faith in the Lord.”