The year 2015 is definitely one for the books for the Ati community living in Naga City in Cebu: about 25 of them graduated from one of the technical vocational courses offered by the collaboration of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, and the Center for Healthcare Professions Cebu.

The group of Ati in Cebu is small, composed of less than 50 families. However, they have been regarded to be an impoverished lot—a truth that its chief Lilia Sanger, then 59, shared when interviewed by Sunstar almost a year ago.

The shanties, location near a coal site, and the regular teasing—and sometimes bullying—the children receive in school are further testaments of the struggles they live every day.

Living in poverty is extremely challenging, particularly in the Philippines, where the access of education, though a right, at times feels like a privilege.

While there are state universities, they are few in the province. Further, even though they are subsidized by the government, students have to pay for other fees. A poor family may not be able to afford them.

While poor students may take advantage of scholarships, they are not provided to everyone, and many of them do not cover these miscellaneous expenses.

This setup usually forces these students to do one thing: try their best to finish high school so they can at least get a job once they are done. This means they wait until they have enough money to finish college or forget it altogether.

So it is with the many members of the Ati community whose students often go to school walking while starving.

 

Then Hope Came Along

The chance to participate in a Housekeeping Service training provided by the Center for Healthcare Professionals Cebu was the beacon of hope these students had been hoping for.

Bernard Restificar, president and chief executive officer of CHP Cebu had long dreamed of implementing the school’s mobile training programs to bring them to the doorsteps of the Philippine community.

The course, which was provided for free for the Ati as well as for the Badjao communities, ran for almost 450 hours, but this amount of time was more than enough to give them what they thought was impossible: a completed course, the closest thing to having a college degree.

The class provided them an opportunity to get a head start in tourism working in different businesses such as hotels, not to mention on-the-job trainings, which they could include in their application once they are ready to be employed.

Because the course already included a mandatory assessment, employers are now assured that these graduates have the competency and skill to join their workforce.

Getting oneself out of poverty is difficult, and sadly, it is even more so for the indigenous peoples like the Ati who are incredibly underrepresented in the working community. The students and now graduates still have a tough road to deal with.

However, the ultimate ticket to success is a combination of knowledge and commitment to achieve one’s goals. Now that they have the knowledge, they just need to push themselves a bit further each time. Before they know it, they are an inch closer to their primary dream—or, in fact, they can already reach it.