Illustration by Jason Dy, SJ
Fr. Ted Gonzales, SJ believes in reading inspiring Filipino stories to children. After his masses, he would ask everyone in attendance to hold hands and ask them to repeat his favorite mantras. A particular one comes to mind:
Bayan ko, aalagaan kita.
Afterwards, he would encourage everyone to read to a child an inspiring Filipino story. Such stories, he believes, are seeds in nation-building.
The logo above reminds Fr. Ted of the story of Mang Rustico. The son of a farmer and a housewife in southern Luzon, he kept up his studies in high school by multi-tasking - on top of a carabao, he would shepherd other carabaos (to help his dad) and read his schoolbooks at the same time.
- Mang Rustico
Studious Rustico was observant as well. His children would tell Fr. Ted about his interesting observations on the farm – such as ants marching back to their hideaway, morsels of food in tow. How industrious and frugal they seemed – always saving these treasures for the rainy day that was sure to come – a lesson Mang Rustico carried with him as he grew up. His determination to succeed in school landed him a degree in Chemical Engineering from Mapua Institute of Technology, and eventually a high post in a multinational company, where he was instrumental in subcontracting a very popular beverage (I used a lot of this in college! - Frannie). Though already financially stable, he never forgot the lesson by the ants – doing some moonlighting in trading and merchandizing after his day job and on weekends, so he could earn extra income.
- Mang Rustico
Stories like these will be read to the children who visit Karangalan Library in
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Special thanks to Fr. Ted, Sam R, and Mang Rustico for letting me do this piece.
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