There’s a homeless girl in Malate, Manila who won’t let anything get in the way of her dream to finish school.
In the afternoon of July 5, eight-year old Lorensalie Elaine Dolfu arrived at a spot outside an apartment building where she stays with her mother and younger sister. Then a heavy rain fell.
But Elaine, who would want to be on top of her class, needed to finish her homework. So she kept on doing her homework, shielding herself and her book and notebook from the rain with a black blanket, as her mother Elenita continued to sleep beside her.
Rolando Villanueva , a manager of Now Corp. in Makati, happened to be passing by. So he took video of the scene and posted it on Facebook.
Villanueva said he had a project to attend to at the area on that day.
He went out and was on his way to a store to buy curtains and other materials when it started to rain.
“I saw the girl at one side with her mother and younger sister,” he said, speaking in Filipino. “I was amazed because she was studying in the middle of the rain.”
So he chatted with Elaine.
According to Villanueva, Elaine is a third grade student at the Aurora Quezon Elementary School.
She told him that she would wake up as early as 4:30 a.m. to prepare for school.
Her father Jerry works as a sidecar driver but is now sick.
She also has a four-year old sister, Alexandra Rose, a nursery student.
“Her dream is to lift her family from their situation,” Villanueva said.
Villanueva said he took the video to inspire his children to have the same passion for studying.
“I thought of taking a video to show to my children who are almost of the same age so that they will be inspired to study,” he said
The video has been watched by almost five million Facebook users and shared over 40,000 times as of this posting. /atm
