Have a good day. Count your blessings. And pass or share this to remind everyone else how blessed we all are.
Nanay Estelita, a National Treasure
The art and the patience of weaving from indigenous material is slowly disappearing. The masters are fading into old age and one can only hope that their next generation offsprings will continue their craft. They are treasures we want to keep and skills we hope will be with us forever. Here is a story of one such national treasure.
Estelita Bantilan, 85 years old, is one of the Philippine’s treasured national artists. She is a B’laan master banig (mat) weaver from Upper Lasang, Sapo Masla, Malapatan, Sarangani Province. She has been making banig since she was 10 years old. She learned how to weave banigs from her mother, who also learned the skill from her own mother.
Nanay Estelita uses indigenous materials found around the area where she lives in making banig. Buli, the main material used for weaving, is harvested from the many buli plants scattered around her house. The dyes used for coloring are from plant and rock pigments, which are harvested by her husband from the nearby forest.
Weaving one Banig used to take one month to complete because working on it can only be done during early morning and very late in the afternoon, when it is not hot. Heat, Nanay Estelita explained, makes the buli impliable. Upper Lasang didn’t have electricity until last year, so Nanay Estelita could not work at night. Now that they have electricity, she is able to weave at night and production time got down to two weeks.
Even though she is already 85 years old, Nanay Estelita is still very active. She works on her garden when not weaving. When asked what’s her secret for long life, with a big bright smile, she said “happiness.”
Perseverance
Perseverance is a key factor for success.
His name is Erwin Macua, 38 years old.
He juggled from being a security guard, pursuing a bachelors degree in Elementary Education, and being a father of 3 children.
And last March 24, 2017, he graduated cum laude from St Theresa’s College in Cebu – the same school where he works as a security guard for the past 20 years.
“Age is not a hindrance, poverty is not a hindrance. Just pursue your dream with the formula: hard work plus determination plus prayer and you will reach your aspirations in life,” Macua said.
An inspiration to his classmates, Macua said he plans to continue his work as a security guard while self-reviewing for the licensure exams for teachers.
He credits his passion for teaching to the lessons he learned from observing the diversity of students in school, which had him looking forward to having his own advisory class in the future.
For now, Macua will continue guarding the gates of STC as he prepares for the licensure examination for teachers in September. He said he has received offers from private and public schools. But his focus now is to pass the exams before he teaches, he said. “It’s one thing to graduate with honors and teach. But I’d be happier to be teaching with a license. That way, I can inspire my future students to work harder,” he said.
Sources: abs-cbnnews.com; sunstar.com.ph
From my Inbox – Lessons About the Way We Treat People
This has been going around the email for quite a while and in fact, I have received several versions all of which is encouraging me to pass it forward.The original author of this inspirational essay is unknown. In fact it appears to be like a compilation of five different stories. But together, they make an excellent inspirational reading.
It speaks about simple truths in the way we treat other people, namely:
- all the people you meet in your life are significant and they all deserve your attention and care
- dont forget to help other people, even if they are strangers
- remember those who serve you
- there is an opportunity behind every obstacle in life
- give when it counts and until it hurts
I am reproducing below the full text of the essay.
Five Lessons About How To Treat People
(author unknown)
1. First Important Lesson – “Know The Cleaning Lady”
During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?”
Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.
“Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say “hello.”
I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.
2. Second Important Lesson – “Pickup In The Rain”
One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.
A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.
She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home.
A special note was attached. It read:
“Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband’s bedside just before he passed away. God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.”
Sincerely,
Mrs. Nat King Cole.
3. Third Important Lesson – “Remember Those Who Serve”
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked. “50¢,” replied the waitress.
The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.
“Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. “35¢!” she brusquely replied.
The little boy again counted his coins. “I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left.
When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies. You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.
4. Fourth Important Lesson – “The Obstacles In Our Path”
In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.
Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand – “Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.”
5. Fifth Important Lesson – “Giving When It Counts”
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes, I’ll do it if it will save her.”
As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away?”.
Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.
How about you? Have you had a personal encounter similar to any of the five stories above? Which of the stories above can you relate the most?
nota bene: With the help of the Zemanta plug-in, I also found out that the same essay are postedin the following blogs:
- Five Lessons About How To Treat People (macseattle.wordpress.com)
- Five Stones to Challenge (brokenbelievers.com)
- How to Treat Others (keeptumbling.wordpress.com)
