How do you go to School?

Some students are fetched by a school bus, some are dropped off by their parents, and others take public transportation such as jeepneys, buses, or tricycles.

Many Filipino children, however, merely walk to school regardless of the distance.

In Sarangani, we met Jessica, an 11-year-old girl who walks to school every day.

“I walk to school for an hour,” she said in Filipino. “We pass through a stream, so I hold on tight to my two younger siblings.”

Before going to her own class, Jessica first drops off her siblings in their Kinder and Grade One classes.

Jessica’s journey to school can take longer whenever it rains. “If it’s raining too hard, we ride a horse to school, there’s four of us riding the horse. We wear raincoats.”

She hitches the ride from her older cousin.

Jessica is determined to go to school, rain or shine. Not all children, however, can do so.

Some are forced to forego their studies to earn a living or to do chores and look after younger siblings at home. Meanwhile, other children are simply too weak, sickly, or hungry to attend class.

Read the rest of Jessica’s story here.