A teacher who decided to spend her entire salary for a month to buy food for a Palaw-an tribal community in Quezon has earned praises from the Department of Education officials and netizens.
Lizabel Alaska, 29, observing the plight of a group of indigenous peoples near her school had decided to set aside her entire salary to prepare over a hundred food packs and distribute them to the tribes.
Teacher Nikki, as she is popularly called at the Pinaglabanan Elementary School (PES), was featured in the DepEd Philippines official Facebook page where she earned commendation and praise from teachers and netizens.
“Ang trabaho lang po kasi nila dito ay nagpapa-upa, pumupunta ng bayan, inuupahan sila, tapos nilalakad lang nila walong kilometro galing sa barrio namin,” she said.
The food packs were prepared by Alaska on April 16 with the help and support of her family.
Right after she became a regular teacher, Alaska said she has been preparing and giving meals to her students.
“Noong ako po ay naregular, sa mga school na napuntahan ko po ako po ay nag-gigift giving sa mga estudyante ko sa kanila ako nag-gigift-giving,” she said.
She added that the crisis is an opportunity for teachers like her to help their learners in need and make them feel that they are cared for.
“Sabi ko nga kung kayang may ipamigay kami sa mga estudyante namin kahit isang beses sa isang taon lalo na sa ganitong krisis maiparamdam namin sa kanila na talagang nag-cacare po kami,” she said.
