Student who lives at a cemetery gets homeschooled among graves

A young student living inside the Manila South Cemetery could often be found atop burial niches with modules in hand as she perseveres through online classes amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

According to Saleema Refran’s report on “24 Oras,” seven-year-old Maica Kate Lopez studies hard for her daily two-hour online class despite the noise of vehicles around her.

Lopez also uses an old, cracked phone for classes and she has no earphones. She said that a P50 load was just enough for two days of classes.

“Mahirap po siya onti kaso po ‘yung iba kasi maiingay kaya minsan hindi ko naiintindihan… Tinatanong ko [na lang] po kay teacher kung anong gagawin,” Lopez said.

“Naawa rin po ako eh. Kaya kahit gusto ko bilan ng lamesa or upuan, hindi afford, eh. Wala pong pang bili kasi,” said Maica's mother, Lyka Eusebio, who runs a small store at the cemetery.

After her classes, Lopez would answer modules with the help of her mother who will supervise her while tending their small shop.

“Masipag po ‘yan kasi ano hindi siya pu-puwedeng hindi mag kla-klase,” Eusebio said.

Eusebio values education as she never had the opportunity to go to college.

“Gusto namin ng papa niya makapag tapos siya, ma-achieve niya ‘yung mga gusto niya sa buhay. Makuha niya ‘yung mga hindi namin naibigay sa kaniya,” Eusebio said.

Lopez dreams of being a teacher. She said her family was her inspiration.

“Para lang po pag nagtapos na po ang aral, natutulungan ko na po sila mama. Pati po ‘yung kapatid ko,” she said. — Joahna Lei Casilao/DVM, GMA News