Teacher posts about student who was absent since they had no rice to eat, help pours in as it goes viral

• A post of a teacher went viral because of a heartwarming excuse letter she received from one of her students.
• In the letter, the student’s parent said that the reason why her son has been absent for three days was that they couldn’t buy rice to eat. 
• The family thanked the teacher because the viral post became an instrument for them to receive help from those who saw it. 

A teacher from Cagayan de Oro got her heart warmed by her Grade 7 student from Bugo National High School.

In a now-viral post on Facebook, Jenmarie Dullente posted a photo of an excuse letter of one of her students who had been absent for three days.

In the letter, the parent wrote that the reason behind her son’s absence was the lack of rice for them to eat because his father could not drive the tricycle and eaern money to buy it.

“That’s why I choose to be a teacher: to lend a hand to students like them and make them perceive that poverty is not a wall to break but an opportunity to climb and see what’s lies behind,” Jenmarie wrote in her post.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2437334029637087&set=a.584569534913555&type=3

The excuse letter was from a 14-year-old student named Jerom Felipe. According to Rosalinda Felipe, Jerom’s mother, they opted to tell the truth in the excuse letter.

Rosalinda is a housewife and her husband’s Php200 income a day is what keeps them going every day. The couple has nine kids and four of them are studying—two in high school and two in elementary. They admitted that they find it hard to pay for their children’s schooling.

The family’s house also has no electricity and their only source of light is a lamp. This lamp is also the only thing that the students use to see the material they’re studying.

In an interview with ABS-CBN, Jenmarie said that people have seen the post and approached her to offer help to the family.

“Meron nang mga tao na nag-aaproach sa’kin, nag-chat sa’kin kung pwede ba silang mag-extend ng help, magpadala ng pera sa bata. Merong taga ibang countries na sila na lang mag-cater sa isang buwang baon ng bata [at] magpadala ng bigas,” she said.

Because of this, the family thanked the teacher because she has helped the students with their studies. Jerom dreams to be a soldier someday.