Badjao students in Margosatubig town dream of becoming teachers

Gideon C. Corgue

MARGOSATUBIG, Zamboanga del Sur, April 15— Four (4) members of the Badjao tribe in the town of Margosatubig are studying to become professionals teachers in the future and to get rid of poverty.

Mercita Mamal, 13 years old, and the youngest of three children in their family, lives in the Badjao community of Purok Rubia, Barangay Poblacion and is trying to get her education to become a teacher.

Mamal, a grade 7 student at Margosatubig Academy (MARAC), said that she felt compassion for her tribe because almost all of the Badjao families living in the area did not go to school.

Learns to read, write

Mamal happily announced that in her seven years of schooling, she learned to read and write.

Alona Dosmani, 13 years old who also studies at MARAC, continues her education because she wants to finish college and help her family.

Education helps fight poverty

She also saw the miserable condition of their tribe where some of them do not have decent houses and they live in the sea, they will have difficulty buying food and clothes, thus she is determined to go to school because she believes that education is a powerful tool that can combat their poverty.

When she went to school, she also experienced being absent from school because she would help her mother wash their clothes since her younger siblings were all boys.

Meanwhile, Kiel Damdamon, 23 years old is also attending JH Cerilles State College in Mati, San Miguel and is taking the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT) course.

Aspires to be a teacher

Kiel also dreamed of becoming a teacher to help his fellow tribesmen and teach them how to read and write so that they would not be ignorant and people don’t look down on them.

Damdamon is the youngest of six siblings, also sympathized with the economic situation of their family because his parents did not have a proper education.

"It is very difficult for a person without education because he will not be given the opportunity to work in an office or a company because he does not have any formal education," Damdamon said in a vernacular.

He said he was happy that he was able to avail free tuition fee at school and his only expense was his daily fare to school.

Hopes to succeed in his studies

Although he still has a few more years to go to school, he is optimistic that his dream in life will come true.

"I am hopeful that with God's guidance he will help me succeed in my studies and become a professional teacher in the near future," Damdamon concluded.

Around 133 Badjao families live in the Badjao community which is constantly monitored by barangay officials. (jcc/KBP-Zam boanga del Sur)