Rich A Teacher

In junior high, I overheard senior friends talk about what they planned to take up in college.

“I wouldn’t be a teacher. Imagine coming to school since elementary and remaining in school after college because you are a teacher. No way!”

“Yeah, and teachers don’t get much money.”

“Teaching is hard.”

“It won’t take you abroad!”

That’s not correct! Please don’t let me hear that! I wanted to scream at them but never got the chance or courage to do so.

Some of those statements may have been true. But now that I am teaching, I find this career very rewarding. It sounds cliché, but it’s true and much more!

I beg to disagree with those who say that getting rich is out of the question if teaching is one’s only source of income here in the Philippines.

If being rich is a matter of the mind, then I am rich because I am a teacher!

Tangible riches

Teaching is like investing, but the investment is way beyond financial gains. Teaching enriches the mind and the heart. And when the heart is happy, and the mind is filled with excitement and contentment, one has great riches.

Who will not feel rich with these tangible proofs?

Scrolling up and down through my social media apps, I am inspired to see former students’ posts. When licensure exam results are released, my feed gets flooded with rejoicing for friends passing the exams.

When it’s not time for licensure exam results, former students still have many exciting life updates.

Treasure chest

Ron, Rex, and Kyla have been honored as excellent teachers in their areas.

Bon has been receiving awards for teaching out-ofschool youth.

Lyn, who had not previously demonstrated excellence in English, now teaches the language to international students. When she visited the campus, my fellow teachers were amazed to hear her speak fluently and with a Western accent.

There’s also Bert. He used to struggle to pay his school fees all his years in college. He would take the exams late several times. Sometimes he could not even take one because he could not pay the school fees immediately.

Changing Lives 45 Minutes * at a Time

Bingot, bungi, ngongo. These are the words children born with cleft lip or palate often hear while growing up.

“Why do they keep calling me ‘bungi’ when my name is Jane Rose?” asked one girl to her father.1

Mothers, in particular, bear the emotional, physical, and financial burden of caring for their child, who is more challenging to feed, prone to infections, and may have other difficulties such as speech and hearing.2 Guilt, poverty, social stigma, and lack of support can even make their troubles unbearable.

Often teased, bullied, and ostracized, children with this condition usually suffer low selfesteem and have problems socializing and communicating.

But not all of their stories end there. Many find new hope and joy after as little as 30–45 minutes.

Surgeries for cleft lip and palate can vary between less than an hour to a maximum of two hours. Ideally done around a child’s first birthday, cleft lip/palate surgery has a high success rate.3

Surgery for cleft lip/palate in a private hospital, however, can rack up to around PHP250,000. Where can underprivileged and underserved patients turn to?

Providentially, benevolent organizations, like Operation Smile Philippines (OSP), offer surgeries and other services for free.

With volunteer medical professionals ranging from plastic surgeons, anesthesiologists, pediatricians, and nurses to speech pathologists, therapists, and nutritionists, OSP can make what seems impossible possible.

Birth of benevolence

An international organization serving 60 countries, Operation Smile has its roots in the Philippines.

In 1982, Dr. William “Bill” Magee, Jr., a plastic surgeon, and his wife, Kathleen “Kathy,” a nurse and clinical social worker, joined a group of volunteers to repair cleft lips and palates in Naga City. Expecting to help about 40 patients, they were blown away to meet some 300 families begging for help.