by Daniella Y. Villanueva, 2024 Intern for Communication and Advocacy
Despite the challenging realities of her childhood brought on by poverty, Charina Lombreza, a thirty-nine-year-old community volunteer from Sabangan, Caramoran, Catanduanes, continues to persevere with her passion for teaching and has found a new path through the transformative power of community involvement.
“…I had a dream I didn’t fulfill during my youth. I dreamed of becoming a teacher; however, I wasn’t able to do so,” she says.
Charina Lombreza has been with Educo Philippines for five years. She’s a mother to four children and works as a community volunteer (CV) who selflessly teaches the children in her village for free.
Apart from being a simple housewife, she also serves as a duty bearer in their village. With the organization’s assistance over the years, she gained significant skills and knowledge and was able to generously share them with others.
As she does her job in her community, remnants of her journey still remain to her.
Revisiting “her-story”
Charina started working with her village as a barangay official in 2018. Despite having a hard time adjusting, she still chose to endure to achieve the dream that was once lost in her.
A year later, Educo Philippines arrived in the island of Catanduanes where Charina lives, which painted her colorless dream. At first, Charina doubted because she thought that she could not do the roles or the duties because she is only a highschool graduate and might fail to do the job as a volunteer.
Despite her hesitations, Charina still pushed herself beyond limits and accepted the opportunity wholeheartedly. She still attended a lot of meetings and programs Educo Philippines had given to them.
Charina, along with the other volunteers, became in charge of reechoing learning sessions to their community whenever Educo had new projects, training, or workshops. She believes that children deserve to know and understand more about their rights through Educo’s initiatives.
This opportunity eventually opened a door for her to finally fulfill her childhood dream.
Realizing her dream through volunteerism
A lot of changes happened to Charina when she became a community volunteer, from being a housewife to a purposeful community volunteer, she was able to serve as one of the voices of her community while sharing her gained knowledge to the children.
One of the conducted programs that she handled in their barangay was the Child Rights and Well-being (CRWB) wherein they discussed matters about survival rights and the pillars of the children in their community.
Becoming a CV had a significant impact on her, bringing about positive changes and personal growth. Charina gives credit to Educo for allowing her to fulfill her dream of teaching, which she didn’t get to do when she was younger. She values the chance to educate the children in a simple but meaningful way through her volunteer work at Educo Philippines.
For her, volunteering enhances her skills and makes her dream come true; she can now help the people in her barangay. With her passion and dedication, she is now a proud five-year community volunteer and continuously imparts some of herself in community volunteerism.
She highlighted, “if the word volunteering is in your heart, then you’ll be happy with your work.”
Charina also expressed her gratitude to Educo Philippines for giving her the opportunity to become a community volunteer and finally make one of her dreams come true.
“In the past, I had a dream I didn’t fulfill in my younger years. I dreamed of becoming a teacher, and I was able to do that. I now have the opportunity to teach the children in my own simple ways,” she continued.
Charina’s life story of achieving her dream through community volunteerism reminds people that they should not lose hope or give up on their dreams despite the struggles and hurdles they face in their lives. This narrative, along with other stories, is one of the motivating factors for Educo to continue its positive vision and transformative goals toward communities.
