My Resignation from BWS
It was not easy for me to quit the job I’ve had for 7 years.  It was painful and scary.  However, I have learned that God is good for he did not leave me destitute.  For whatever amount I lost, it has been compensated with more time spent with my kids.  That alone is priceless.

I lost my Aveo
This may appear trivial to some but for us, this brought monumental agony.  We lost the car by the time it was fully paid… Just as we are enjoying freedom from monthly amortizations, the car succumbed to a lethal crash.  However, I am still glad because the car did not take my husband’s life with it.  We are still complete and ready to re-build what we have lost.

My Bag Collection
This year, I was finally able to save enough money to afford a Louis Vuitton.  I now have in my possession a simple collection of a newbie baghag… Though not financially wise, it gives me a feeling of insane contentment.  I am now eying to buy my 3rd LV…

My Ebay Addiction
Coining it as an addiction is based on the perspective of other people.  My intention was for me to get the best at an affordable cost.  I am now learning to be wiser… bidding only on items that I really need.

Singapore Trip
Singapore has been a glorious place!  More so, having to go on this trip with my husband even made it more special.  Would love to visit this place again…

Unleashing the Blogger in Me
2009 has been the height of my blogging career.  At one point, I even considered giving everything up and focusing all my energy into blogging.  Due to financial and rational considerations, I decided to maintain my day job and continue writing for pleasure.

Paulo’s Car Accident
Incidents such as this can bring about profound realizations in us.  It makes us more spiritual and grateful.  It makes us appreciate life as a whole.  Life is a gift that was lent to us.  In return, we should accord it with the care and nurturing that it deserves.

For now, this is a partial list of some unforgettable events of my 2009 existence.  I plan to add more in the coming days…

Ciao and Happy New Year to everybody!

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a
very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They
agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open
areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once
more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous ‘yes.’

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar – effectively filling the
empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

‘Now,’ said the professor as the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are
the important things—your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions—and if everything else
was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else—the small stuff. ‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ he continued, ‘there is no room for the
pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the
things that are important to you.

‘Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children . Spend time with your parents.
Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to
clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first—the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The
rest is just sand.’

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, ‘I’m glad you asked.’
The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.’

Thank you Eileen for sharing this article to us …

One day the villagers decided to pray for rain.  On the day of the prayer, everyone gathered but only one boy came with an umbrella.  That’s FAITH…

When you throw a one year old baby in the air, he laughs because he knows you will catch him.  That’s TRUST…

Every night, we go to bed. Though we are not sure that we will get up tomorrow, we still have many plans for the coming days.  That’s HOPE…

I put my FAITH and TRUST in God… With HIM in the midst of my being, I shall never lose HOPE…

Education for All:

Building Strong Learning Foundations thru the Mother Tongue

A MANIFESTO

Philippine basic education is now at a critical crossroad.

It now calls for the revisiting of our commitment to Education for All (EFA) 2015. All stakeholders have to be vigilant and involved. Otherwise, education will just be a  weak transformative power in our society. Instead of education for all, it will be education for the few; instead of seeing Filipino youth become critical thinkers, coherent communicators, and productive citizens; we will see a generation of unreflective and mediocre mouthpieces of languages not their own.

We affirm the need to improve learning competencies in all subject areas, including English. Our educational system has to move forward following a roadmap drawn by experts in language and education based on empirical proofs. Experiences of other multilingual countries all point to the mother tongue as the best language of learning, especially in the early grades. The mother tongue is the most effective bridge to and foundation for the learning of other languages like English.

At this stage, however, many of our lawmakers and national leaders still hold on to the unfounded but long-held belief that an English-dominated initial basic education will produce superior learners. We submit that such educational strategy will only benefit a very small number of Filipinos—those who belong to families where English is the home language. But the truth is that the majority of our school children come from homes where the mother tongue is the predominant language. This explains their marginalization in the classroom.

Such marginalized learners, as pointed out by scientific evidences face the double burden of learning. They are struggling to learn the 3Rs on top of the big burden of learning an alien language in which they are taught. This predicament is one of the major culprits of poor performance and high drop-out rates. All of these imply the needed approach– teach the yet unknown 3Rs through the already familiar local language and culture, build the learner’s capacity to learn and introduce a second language with the correct phasing. With such mother tongue-based  multi-lingual education (MLE) framework, the mastery of  all the learning areas including English is effectively attained.

It is a basic truth that language embodies a person’s cultural identity and heritage. To uphold this truth, even international law guarantees and directs states’ educational system to develop respect for the child’s own cultural identity and language (Article 29-c Convention on the Rights of the Child). Thus, we reject any assertion that a local language may be inferior, inadequate and poses an obstacle to learning.

We also reject the usual argument that MLE is costly and, therefore, very hard to implement in the face of limited financial resources. Papua New Guinea, a poor Asian country of more than 800 languages, has demonstrated that reliance on local initiatives and resources for MLE is highly feasible and substantially saves on much costs of developing and producing learning materials.  Recently, our own DepEd’s Agusan Pilot MLE Study corroborated the practicality and merits of local self-reliance and initiatives. Thus, we submit that ultimately, to insist on teaching with an alien language is more costly and inefficient when children do not become functionally literate and hardly develop higher order thinking skills and whose English competencies are mediocre.

In view of the rush to pass a law on English-based teaching in basic education, stakeholders need to collectively reflect and act now. We call on the following and other stakeholders:

The Department of Education – to have the resolve to uphold and adopt its own framework on Mother Tongue-based Multilingual Education set by the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA) as the touchstone of the national policy on languages in education;

The Legislature – to pass the amended House Bill 3719 (The Multilingual Education and Literacy Act) as a measure to rationalize and institutionalize a language of learning policy;

The teachers, school heads, and education managers – to provide the initiative and creativity that would bring about a learning environment conducive for mother-tongue education to flourish within the framework of School-Based Management (SBM);

The PTCAs, local school boards, LGUs and other community stakeholders to mobilize and develop the needed  resources such as policy framework, learning resources, awareness and capacity building, and advocacy to guarantee implementation and contextualization of mother tongue-based learning.

And all concerned citizens who believe in the cause of Education for All, we call on you to make your voices heard and to give your wholehearted support to mother tongue-based education initiatives.

Let us strengthen the basic foundation of an educated nation: FUNCTIONAL LITERACY FOR ALL. Onward with Education for All through MLE 2015!

For more information and links to MLE reports, please visit our blog

http://mothertongue -based.blogspot. com/

To indicate your support for MLE, please sign our online petition found at the link below:

http://www.gopetiti on.com/petitions /support- mother-tongue- based-learning- in-the-philippines.html

For paper-based signature campaign, please include name, town, province, organization/ sector, contact number. Scan the document and email to mother.tongue@ yahoo.com

“Who said that the woman is inferior to man? I maintain that man and woman are equal”

Man is the highest of all creation…Woman is the most sublime of all ideals.

God made for man a throne, for a woman an altar; the throne exalts, the altar sanctifies.

Man is the cerebrum, woman is the heart; the cerebrum fabricates light, the heart produces love.
Light fecunds, love resuscitates.

Man is the code, woman is the gospel; the code corrects, the gospel perfects.

Man is a genius, woman is an angel; genius is undefinable, angel is unmeasurable.

man is strong in reasons, woman is invincible in her tears; reason convinces the most stubborn, tears soften the hardest of mortals.

Man is the temple, woman is the sanctuary; before a temple we revere, before a sanctuary we kneel.

Man is the eagle that soars, woman is the nightingale that sings; to fly is to dominate the space, to sing is to conquer the soul.

Man is capable of all heroism, woman of martyrdom; heroism ennobles, martyrdom sanctifies.

Man is the ocean, woman is the lake; the ocean has its pearl that adorns, the lake has its poem that dazzles.

Man has a lighthouse, his conscience; woman has a star, the hope; the lighthouse guides, the hope saves.

At last, the man is placed where the earth ends, and the woman where heaven begins. Who said, therefore, that woman is inferior to man?

It takes a hundred men to make an encampment, but a woman alone can build a home. I not only admire the woman as the most beautiful object ever created, but I revere her as the redeeming glory of humanity, the pledge of all human virtues, the sanctuary of perfect quality of head and heart.

She is the one thing in this world that remains constant, the one peak that is always above the clouds, the one window where lights always burn. The only star that darkness cannot quench is the woman’s love.

It excuses the most cruel injury; perennial of life. It grows in all climates. Neither coldness nor neglect, harshness nor cruelty can extinguish it.

Woman’s love is the perfume of the heart. It is the one love that is forever constant, the one love that has wrought all miracles of art, the love that conquers the world. The love that has given music from the cradle, song to the end of the closing symphony that brings away our sous on the wings of fire.

“it is greater than might, sweeter than life, and stronger than death. Without this love, the world would be a curse.”

Mixing:
Measure words carefully. Add heaping cups of understanding. Use generous amounts of time and patience.
Cook in front burner, but keep temperature low; do not boil.
Add generous dash of humor and personality. Season to taste with the spice of life.
Serve in individual molds.

From Recipes for Busy Little Hands by D.J. Croft

This quotation can mean different things to different people.  It may denote opportunities or failures, triumphs or heartaches.  For what has transpired in the last 48 hours of my life and my family, it is all about second chances.

But nothing lasts forever- life is too erratic to remain in a plateau.  As we celebrate my husband’s 33rd birthday, he met an accident that had almost left me a widow, and my kids, fatherless.

After a night out with friends, my husband drove our car to pick me up in Zulu (somewhere in Angeles City).  I have no qualms with him driving during late hours.  In our many years of being together, there have been many occasions where he would drive home very late at night.  I realized that my continuous bantering would be futile, as he would still insist on doing what he wants.  It is during these times that even with a troubled heart, I have sought God’s protection. I leave everything to my faith in the Lord, that regardless of my husband’s weaknesses and overconfidence, God would still bring him safely home.

The wee hours of the morning of February 14 made me realize that God is teaching us a very important lesson in life.  That despite His divine guidance and protection, we are still answerable to what will become of us.  We reap what we sow.  And as we plant the seeds of irresponsibility and carelessness, the aftermath of our follies result to grave consequences.

God giveth and God taketh away.  That February 14, the day when we were supposed to celebrate and give thanks to another year in his life, God took away many things from us.  But, despite of all that, I realized how much He loves us.  He took away many unimportant things in our lives but He chose to save the one dearest to our hearts.  No matter how much I compute our losses, it can never compare to Him saving my husband’s life.  Looking at how grossly wrecked our car was, no one could ever imagine how he survived with a few cuts, bruises, and broken teeth.  We are overjoyed and grateful for being given a second chance at life… another opportunity to right the wrong and to pursue greater and more significant dreams for our family…

Working hard and excelling in one’s field is not a sin.  However, as we trod the path towards financial and professional success, we must not forget to stop and take the hand of those that really matter along the way.