Growing up with a physically abusive father who’s now serving time in jail, 5-year-old Ella Mae has found refuge in her mother who cares deeply for her. Ella Mae lives in a bamboo house near the river with her mother and her three older siblings where access to education is hard.
After two years into the pandemic, most schools in the Philippines have finally resumed face-to-face classes. However, in Ella Mae’s location where you need to cross the river to reach essential establishments, it is still indefinite when classrooms will re-open. Thankfully, her mother, Rafaela, learned about International Care Ministries’ Family Academy program.
Family Academy has helped Ella Mae improve her social and communication skills as she joyfully and actively engages with other kids. her favorite subjects are Phonics and Math. Whenever Ella Mae’s mother would come home from her work in the fields, she would show off what she’s learned from her FA coach by counting up to 100. “I am really looking forward to the time when she will enroll in Grade 1, because I know that she is already capable and has the basic knowledge,” Rafaela shared.
Rafaela told us that whenever she spends time learning with Ella, her daughter would say that she wants to be a teacher when she grows up so she can inspire hope in children like her someday.