- An 80-year-old grandmother serves as an inspiration as she graduated from elementary
- Librada Gemal graduated from elementary together with her 12-year-old granddaughter
- Gemal never had a chance to study because she was born into a poor family
She may be old but she’s not senile to finish education even at the age of 80 years old. That is grandmother Librada Gemal of Cebu.
GMA’s newscast Balita Pilipinas Ngayon featured the inspiring story of Lola Librada last April 5.
Gemal just finished her elementary education – and what’s sweeter is she graduated together with her 12-year-old grandchild Vanessa Amimit.
According to the feature, faculty and officials from Tisa Elementary School were in awe when the old woman went up the stage to receive her diploma.
Gemal, who aspires to be a nurse one day, advised the younger generation to keep striving in their studies.
“Mga bata, magsikap sa pag-aaral dahil mahaba pa ang inyong kinabukasan. Ako nga nag-aaral pa rin kahit sinasabi nila na wala nang pakinabang. Pero nangarap pa rin ako para matutong bumasa,” she said.
[Kids, study hard because you still have a long way to go to your future. Look at me, I still studied even though they tell me I am useless. But I dreamed to learn how to read.]
Gemal has also been earlier featured by other news sites prior to her graduation.
In a 2013 story, Inquirer said Gemal was not sent to school by her parents because they were poor. Her father was disabled and her mother was trying to make ends meet at the time by selling rice cake. Being the eldest of 10 children, she had to help her family make a living.
Aside from her studies, Gemal was also juggling her work as a masseuse and a laundry woman to be able to send her grandchildren to school who were left by her daughter.
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