Overcoming Poverty: Poverty Is Not a Hindrance to Success

Hi, my name is Jhunclide Laput but you can call me Clide. I’m 26 years old and I live in  Brgy. Inayawan, Cebu City and this is the story of my life before I knew about LP4Y and until I joined it and how I started overcoming poverty. I come from a poor family. We live in the  mountains. My father went to Qatar to work, until my mom and dad separated, and my mom decided to move us to Cebu city. Living there was different from the mountains. The houses were nice, there were a lot of people, our house was close to the school. And there were many schools you could choose from. 

Our mother sent us to school. She worked just to support our daily needs and for our  schooling. When I graduated from Elementary School, my mother still sent me to school. I went to High School. Even though I had to repeat grade 6 three times because I kept dropping out since we kept moving houses. And when I was in my 1st year of high school, I made some friends. I would go with  them to cutting classes. We would drink and drink, until I learned to use drugs. To make this long story short, I became a person without dreams: I wanted to keep using drugs and selling drugs until one day, I was caught and detained in the Cebu City Jail. 

A few months later, I was released from  prison. I tried to apply for a proper job, but it  was difficult for me to meet the requirements because I had a criminal record. But I needed money to support my son: I had a son who was 3 years old at the time. So, I went back to illegal work. I sold drugs again, but this time in large quantities. And I had a lot of money. I remembered in my past, if we wanted to buy something, my mother wouldn't buy it because we were poor, if we wanted to eat something, we couldn't eat it because we didn't have money to buy it: so now that I had money, I promised myself I would buy everything we couldn’t before, especially for my son. Expensive things, expensive clothes, delicious food, going to expensive malls,  expensive toys for my son, and I would send my younger brother to the school he wanted. 

After a few months of doing illegal things. I was caught and detained here at the Lapu Lapu City Jail. All my hopes for my siblings and children were crushed. I was sad because I could no longer provide for their needs and wishes. My case was very difficult and complicated. It was not going to be easy. I still had to stay in prison for a long time while my case was being heard. I was not sure if I would win. If I lost my case, it would convict me of a life sentence.

Life here in jail is difficult. If you don't act, you will have a hard time. I was not able to cope with all the hardships and loneliness. Until one day, a friend of mine who was  training with LP4Y at T Origin asked me if I had any other activities. He endorsed LP4Y, and said it was an organization that could help me in my future: one that could change my  life. 

I tried LP4Y...I joined for 1 week to observe. I was mostly interested because I needed and wanted to speak English. So, I continued until I finished the 6-month training. Now I am an ambassador of LP4Y and I am the Stars president of Lapu-Lapu City Jail. LP4Y helped me a lot, not only in learning English but also in teaching me how to do my job. I have developed many skills, such as communication skills and leadership skills, which I am now using as a Stars president. I also learned that if you have a dream, you have to work hard to achieve it.

Being poor is not an excuse to not achieve your dream. 

The time will come when all the hardships you've gone through, all the hard work and suffering, will all be worth it when you achieve your dreams. I now have a dream: my short-term goal is to become a paramedic because I want to help  people, especially the elderly, and my long-term goal is to create an organization like ambulance services because I want to be able to serve people for free, like the poor.  When I get out, I will use everything I learned  here at LP4Y. So that my family and son can see that even though I failed, I still have a chance to change.

And I will try to achieve my dreams for my future.  

And I will leave you with this saying; POVERTY IS NOT  A HINDRANCE TO SUCCESS!