Inquirer Visayas
Samar maid works her way to college degree
By Joey A. Gabieta
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:33:00 04/05/2008
Filed Under: Good news, Regional authorities
TACLOBAN CITY – For Analiza Yape, graduating from college was a dream come true. Orphaned since she was in Grade 6, Yape put herself through high school and then college by working as a housemaid.
“I am happy that, finally, I am now on my way to achieving my aspiration in life – to have a better life and to help my siblings. I have now a college diploma which I hope will open good opportunities for me,” she said.
Yape, 22, is among the 81 graduates who earned degrees of Bachelor of Arts, major in economics at the Eastern Visayas State University in Tacloban City. She received her diploma from Senate President Manuel Villar on March 27.
Born to a poor farming family in Barangay Naubay, Llorente, Eastern Samar, Yape lost both her parents when she was young to illnesses she could no longer remember. Her mother, Emily, died when she was 4 years old, while her father, Virgilio, passed away when she was in Grade 6.
But their deaths did not stop her from dreaming. The third child in a brood of four, Yape worked as a helper for a family who lived at the town proper of Llorente, 2 kilometers from their village, until she finished third year high school.
She decided to try her luck in Tacloban, still working as a helper, and completed her high school education at the Sagkahan National High School in 2004. “My employers agreed to send me to school on condition that I would not receive any salary, which I accepted. All I wanted was to finish my high school (studies).” she said.
Yape moved to another household where her employer also agreed to pay for her tuition and other incidental expenses if she would not get any salary.
“My routine was always the same – school and home. After my studies, I have to do my chores at the house. It was physically taxing, yes. But for me to reach my goal, I have to sacrifice so many things, including my longing to be with my siblings back home,” she said.
Her only brother and a sister finished high school through the help of some relatives, while her other sister had yet to graduate from high school. Yape requested that her siblings and her employers remain unnamed.
Rising above poverty
“I will look for a job so I can help my brother and sisters. I want them to finish their studies for I believe that having a degree will really help us rise above poverty,” she said.
Yape also acknowledged the help given by her employers, as she said determination alone would not have allowed her to reach this far.
“That is why, I am so grateful to all of them (her employers),” she said.
But she turned melancholic when she remembered her dead parents. “Whatever struggles that I have encountered, these are all worth it. I am offering my diploma to them and wherever they are right now, I am sure they are proud of me,” she said.
Yape said she would never be ashamed to tell anybody that she had worked as a housemaid just to earn an education.
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