How an OFW's son finished college despite financial woes

While others would've given up, Christian Lopez Losa chose to persist.
For Losa, the road to his college diploma is littered with promissory notes.
This started when his mother died in 2012, making his father, an OFW in Saudi Arabia, the family's sole breadwinner.
However, having an OFW father did not guarantee financial security.
"Pagdating ko ng third year, six months totally walang padala si papa. Then nangyari po na almost three months pong walang paramdam. Wala daw po siyang internet. Di po namin siya matawagan. As in wala po talaga," Losa told GMA News' Dano Tingcungco in an interview.
Losa's father returned to the Philippines in 2015, but whatever amount of money he had saved in Saudi Arabia all went to their debts, leaving Losa no choice but to avail of more loans for his schooling.
"Noong una po talagang nahihiya ako kasi ang daming fini-fill up, paulit-ulit po yung sasagutan. Nahihiya po ako. Pero nung pangatlo at pang-apat na beses parang naging normal na po sa akin yun," he said.
Losa said because of his situation, he became a familiar face in the university's registrar.
"Actually, yung isang teller doon kilala ko na. Pag lumalapit ako binibiro niya ako. 'Ano ano, promissory na naman?'" he said.
Still, his determination paid off. This year, Losa, who took up Hotel and Restaurant Management - Major in Cruise Management, will graduate, with nothing but that wonderful feeling of having overcome a major obstacle in life.
"Pag gusto po natin maraming-marami po talagang paraan. Hindi po hadlang yung wala kang pera at the same time hindi rin hadlang yung wala kang pamilya o magulang para hindi ka mag-aral. At the end of the day, ikaw pa rin po yung gagawa ng kinabukasan mo," he said. —KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vietnam condemns China's 'brutal behavior' in fisher attack ---- Agence France-Presse

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam's foreign ministry condemned on Wednesday China's "brutal behavior" during a violent attack on Vietnamese fishers in the disputed South China Sea. The 10 fishermen were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars' worth of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands -- an archipelago in the resource-rich waterway claimed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. Vietnam "resolutely protests the brutal behavior of Chinese law enforcement forces against Vietnamese fishermen and fishing vessels operating in the Hoang Sa archipelago of Vietnam", foreign ministry spokesperson Vietnam Pham Thu Hang said in a statement, using the Vietnamese term for the Paracel Islands. "The above actions of Chinese law enforcement forces seriously violated Vietnam's sovereignty" over the archipelago, the statement said. Four of the Vietnamese crew were taken to hospital on Monday
Read more

Russia captures town after 2 years of Ukrainian resistance --- Reuters

Russian forces now control 98.5% of Luhansk, 60% of Donetsk MOSCOW: Russian troops on Wednesday took charge of the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, a bastion that had resisted intense attacks since Russia launched its full-scale assault in 2022. The advance of Moscow's forces, which control just under a fifth of Ukraine, has underlined Russia's vast superiority in men and materiel as Ukraine pleads for more weapons from the Western allies that have been supporting it. Ukraine's eastern military command said it had ordered a pullback from the hilltop coal mining town to avoid encirclement by Russian troops and "preserve personnel and military equipment". The Russian defense ministry did not mention Vuhledar in its daily battlefield report. Russian Telegram channels, however, published video of troops waving the Russian tricolor flag over shattered buildings. The town, which had a population of over 14,000 before the war, has been devastated, with Soviet-era
Read more

Africa roads are world’s deadliest despite few cars ---- AFP

ADDIS ABABA: Africa has the fewest roads and cars of any region, and yet the largest ratio of vehicle deaths, caused by the usual suspects — unsafe habits, speeding and drinking — but also poor infrastructure, scant rescuers and old cars. As everywhere, speed, alcohol and not wearing a seat belt or helmet are among the main causes of death and injury, say experts. But in Africa, where there are 620 traffic deaths every day, these problems are compounded by bad roads, outdated vehicles, minimal prosecutions and a shortage of emergency services. A recent World Health Organization report found that Africa surpassed the rest of the world, including Southeast Asia — which recorded the most road deaths — with a record ratio of 19.5 people killed per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021. Home to only around four percent of the world’s automobiles, Africa accounted for 19 percent of road deaths last year. “What is worrying is the upward trend in Africa,” said Jean Todt, a former head of the Internati
Read more