FOLLY OF INNOCENCE: PART ONE

A Girl Who Doesn’t Know How to Dream

( Feature Sory)

By:

The FLYING JOURNAL

October 04, 2011

Geraldine’s eyes are out of the blue, curling her youngest child. She doesn’t remember her birthday.

TANKE, TALISAY CITY, CEBU—A two-door rental house, at first sight, someone would
think of it as a normal home for a family. But as you try to venture in one of those doors,
lies a figure of a woman, one neighbor said.

Everyone thinks that she’s already a woman, but she’s not, and to think of it, she’s just a
girl who was blinded by poverty, another neighbor clarified.

It was September 14, 2011, about 8:30 in the evening, a silhouette of a girl appeared
before the darkness of the night.

She was chopping some woods to add to the burning ember and to be able to sustain it.

The burning flame was being started by teared pages of chemistry book which she
doesn’t even know its significance.

Everyone knew in their place that this is the girl’s routine every time she prepares for
their supper.

The girl left the rice that she was cooking.

The smell of the overcooked rice prompted a man to come out from the house and get
the little cauldron.

He is Carlo Albura, 39, he could be mistaken as the father of the girl, anyone could tell.

"Dili oy! Dili man na amo papa. Kapuyo man na sa ako ate," (No! He’s not our father. He’s
my sister’s live-in partner.)Nina Alvarez, 9, the younger sister of the girl explained.

Carlo works in one of the vulcanizing shops in Mandaue City. He leaves for work as early
as 7 a.m. and returns at 9 p.m. The girl, on the other hand, washes their clothes, dishes
and cleans the house, after Carlo leaves for work.

Every night, the family struggles to kindle fire, needed to cook their food and to give
light in their dark little place called home.

It could be a typical day, for a typical family.

September 17, 2011, about 10 a.m., the girl did their laundry and hung their clothes on
the bamboo fence.

Later that day, the girl was curling underneath her chest is a life, sucking the milk she
could offer from her breast.

This girl, but already a mother, her neighbor had said, was Geraldine Alvarez.

She just turned 18, the early month of September, her mother had said.

But as you thought that was the only child, Geraldine already bore three children. That
child she was carrying was the youngest.

The eldest son, Gerald, is three years old. The second child is Melody, two years old. And
the youngest is Kim, 1 year old.

Geraldine is a woman of few words. But sometimes doesn’t answer someone’s question,
one neighbor commented.

"Ana ko niya, adto mi sa health center para magpa-prenatal. Unya moduko ra jud intawn
siya. Way tingog-tingog, gibiyaan ra ko, then nilakaw," (I told her that we will go to
the health center for prenatal. But she just stooped and walked away without saying
anything.)said Tessie dela Cruz, her concerned neighbor.

She’s now 18, yet she can’t even easily understand words uttered to her. And she can’t
even remember her birthday.

One day, a neighbor asked her, "Unsa may damgo nimo sa imong kinabuhi, day?" (What
are your dreams in life?)

"Wala ra man. Kontento na ko," (Nothing. I’m already contented.) she answered briefly.

"Kung mabalik pa lang ang panahon, unsa man imong ginahan nga usbon?" (If you could
turn back time, what would you like to change?)

She purses her lips and remained silent.

She was asked if she wants to pursue her studies. But her only reply was that, she
doesn’t want to continue in going to school because of her experience way back in her
first grade.

At 13, Geraldine ventured in a world totally lost for her. She quit schooling, not even
Grade-I whom she later said was due to bullying. She said that her classmates bit and
punched her.

She tried to tell this to her teacher, but she was just ignored.

Women exposed to abuse domestic violence, and family strife in childhood are more
likely to become pregnant as teenagers, and the risk of becoming pregnant as a teenager
increases with the number of adverse childhood experiences. According to a 2004
study, one-third of teenage pregnancies could be prevented by eliminating exposure
to abuse, violence, and family strife. The researchers note that "family dysfunction has
enduring and unfavorable health consequences for women during the adolescent years,
the childbearing years, and beyond." When the family environment does not include
adverse childhood experiences, this will lead to negative psychosocial consequences.

"Nagmahay ka karon nga nagminyo ka ug sayo?" (Did you regret marrying at an early
age?)

"Wala ra man, Okay ra." (No. It’s okay.)

"Unsa man jud imo panganduy? Mag-nurse o mag-teacher?" (What would you prefer, to
be a nurse or a teacher?)

"Motrabaho," (Work)she immediately answered.

"Unsa man sad imong ginahan nga trabaho?" (What work do you like then?)interestingly
asked the neighbor.

"Ari ra. Manglaba," (Just here. Doing laundry)her short response.

"Nya kung wala na kay labhunon?" (What if you don’t have anymore to laundry?)added
the neighbor.

"Naa ra sa balay, manghan-ay sa mga gamit," (Just here in the house. Arranging things)
her reply.

The neighbor also asked, if she has a hobby like singing or dancing, as her past time.

But she only nodded and said she doesn’t have time and interest of doing so.

What makes her special?