Repost: This Scholar Filipina Who Grew Up in Quiapo As a Beggar, Graduates from College!

Blood, Sweat, Hope and Quiapo from Shodensan on Vimeo.

Source: www.says.com

"Dito po sa amin sa Quiapo, halos lahat ng kabataan dito, mga naliligaw ng landas. Ayaw ko po matulad sa kanila, gusto ko po maiba."

Once you stepped into the busy street of Paterno and see the several homeless houses built from plywoods and tarpaulins, you will think about your life for a second and thoughts will come rushing in your mind, like...

Where did these homeless people come from? These kids who are beggars, where are their families? Do they eat on time? Do they have an access to clean drinking water? Are they studying? Do they have parents?

And the saddest thing is, after walking along Paterno street and returning to your comfortable home, you will realize how you cannot do anything about the poverty that has been looming the country like cancer since our grandparents were born.

It is not really safe to live in Manila, let alone live on the streets of it your whole life

Rodallie S. Mosende is one of those kids who grew up in Paterno with her homeless family

Image courtesy of www.says.com

Growing up is not easy especially if your parents could not even afford a meal for the family. When she was just a kid, she hustled store vendors for food and promised to pay them back when she gets older.

Image courtesy of www.says.com

Until in 2011 when she met Sir Rick Rocamora, a multi-awarded photojournalist, who was doing a photowalk and documenting the homeless in Quiapo

Images courtesy of www.says.com

Sir Rick Rocamora's oeuvre received awards from the Asian American Journalist Association, SF Bay Area Press Photographers Association, New California Media, and Media Alliance and have been published in the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Times and other national and international print and online publications, according to Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center.

Congratulations, Rodallie, for being brave-hearted and for overcoming this chapter in your life — after all, this is just the beginning! Kudos!

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And to Sir Rick Rocamora, mabuhay po kayo for inspiring all of us: students, photographers, children, and citizens of the Philippines. You made us believe that all dreams are possible to achieve — even the ones sown in the corners of the streets.

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Let's show our support to Sir Rick Rocamora's inspiring exhibit entitled, "Blood, Sweat, Hope, and Quiapo: The Rodallie S. Mosende Story" by dropping-by at the Ayala Museum! Open until 11 May 2016.

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This exhibition coincides with the launch of the book Blood, Sweat, Hope, and Quiapo: Rodallie S. Mosende’s Story by Rick Rocamora, Rene Ciria-Cruz, and Dan Amosin which will be available for purchase at the Ayala Museum starting April 28, 2016. — Filipinas Heritage Library

Image courtesy of www.says.com