Eleven college diplomas, at least one for each of her children.
These are what Marife Rabanes dreams to see on their wall one day. However, the economic pressure faced by their big family makes leaving school “unescapable,” as she describes it.
Six of her children are drop outs, and another one might follow next school year.
“I value my children’s education, but even if I wash all my neighbors’ clothes, I still cannot afford sending eleven kids to school,” she said.
Marife offers laundry services while Fernando, her husband, is an on-call driver. Applying for a regular job is a challenge, since both of them did not finish elementary.
They are lucky if they earn five to seven hundred pesos in a week, which is insufficient for their food expenses alone.
“I once dreamed of becoming a policeman,” says 28-year-old James, their eldest. “But I stopped going to school because we were barely eating. Most of the time, I had to share a single dried fish with my ten siblings.”
James knew that his parents need financial help to make ends meet, so he left high school and started working in a surplus store at Liloan, Cebu where they live. He gave way to his ten younger siblings however, five of them also dropped out eventually.
Since Marife’s children have tight age gap, they are in almost the same grade levels. As a result, the expenses multiply so most of them stop studying after graduating in elementary.
“We can only afford high school if they take turns.” Marife explained.
Consequently, Kevin, 15, and Marlon, 13, dropped out for now, while Kendrick, 20, and Paul, 19, continue Junior High.
It’s a waiting game, and along the way, Mirafe’s other children lost confidence in going back to school, like Tonio, Karl, and Vincent who are now 27, 23, and 22 years old respectively. They feel like they are ‘too old for high school,’ so they worked in a construction site instead, and built their own families.
Meanwhile, Mirafe’s eldest daughter, Shaina, is already 10 years old but she is still in third grade at Yati Elementary School.
“Before, I stopped attending classes because I was bullied for eating ginamos (fermented fish) for lunch,” she said.
Similarly, her sister, Christine, is older compared to other second graders, but noticeably smaller in body size. Both of them are underweight and roughly catching up in class.
Now, another problem comes their way.
According to Mirafe, one of her children might drop out temporarily next school year, to take care of their youngest who has special needs.
“I hope my husband finds a stable job so that I don’t have to leave home often. This way, my children can continue studying,” she added.
Mirafe and her husband work hard but are still cash strapped. This sad truth puts much weight on the family’s decision to drop out or delay schooling, since providing food on their table is more urgent than collecting diplomas.