The Story of Ezekiel

September 17, 2021

It’s never easy for a mother to leave her children but Jelyn had to make that painful decision. After the children’s father abandoned the family, Jelyn could not afford to feed her children. So she decided to find some work. Unfortunately, the only job she could find was as a stay-in domestic helper in another province. She had to leave young Russel, Regine and Roselyn in the care of their eldest sibling, Ezekiel. Though Ezekiel was just 14, he took on the roles of both mother and father.

While Jelyn was away, Ezekiel did his best to take care of his siblings. He cooked for them and tucked them into bed at night. He made sure their home was safe. Jelyn sent home half a sack of rice and some food every payday but it was never enough. The children were hungry and malnourished. Roselyn, the youngest, was enrolled in the MingoMeals nutrition program that NVC administers for the Provincial Govt of Negros Occidental. That is how we met the family in 2020.

 

A Glimmer of Hope

After we shared the story of the family’s plight, many people reached out to us. With the help of generous supporters, we took the kids for a long overdue doctor’s check-up. This was followed by a trip to buy slippers, clothing, food and vitamins. Our field officer also treated them to ice cream at a convenience store. It was the children’s first time to experience that. We also gave the three eldest children Lovebags full of school supplies and arranged for a neighbor to supervise their studies.

     

Then we tracked down Jelyn and found out that she badly wanted to return home. Unfortunately, she had borrowed money from her employer to buy medicine and could not leave till she paid him back. So we facilitated an interest-free pay-when-able loan for her so that she could pay back her employer and come home.

Home at Last

Finally, Jelyn was reunited with her family in October 2020! We endorsed some fish peddling tools so that she could stay home and work in the area. Ezekiel helps his mother with her business. However, because he no longer has to play the roles of father and mother to his siblings, he began catching up on his studies. On subsequent visits we noted that Jelyn’s business was doing well.

An Update on Ezekiel

We gave the family some time to reconnect with each other and visited them again in September. Generally, they are doing well. However, the team found out was that Ezekiel had almost failed last school year as he was not able to submit any of the research requirements. He did not have a smart phone to use as research tool. Thankfully, some people intervened on his behalf and the school allowed him to move on to the next grade. However, Ezekiel worried about the coming school year. With no gadget to do the required research, he was not sure if he would be able to finish school. This could possibly mean the loss of his dream of becoming a policeman.
He shed tears of frustration and then brought himself to dry his tears and face his challenges. Later that day, he cried again. But the second time, he shed tears of joy.
When we received donations for Ezekiel last year, we set aside an amount for his future needs. And so from those funds, we bought him a smart phone to use for school.  Now Ezekiel has one less thing to worry about! With his new gadget, he can complete his assignments. Thank you to everyone who made this possible!