MISS Universe Philippines Rabiya Mateo shared her struggles as a student as she fulfilled her goal of giving back to the community.
“When I was in elementary, I did not have much,” she said in her Instagram post.
“I remember I only had five pesos as my baon back then. I only had two notebooks for my eight subjects. I used the same shoes from grade four to six. I had no laptop, no internet access, and there were moments I even needed to go to my classmate’s house to borrow crayons and materials,” she wrote.
Despite these limitations, Rabiya said she was “happy studying and doing school work.” At one point, she even made a promise to herself to give back once she finally reaches “that point of success.”
Rabiya recently visited a public school in Cebu to personally give slippers and educational materials to 150 students with the help of different partners.
According to the Ilongga beauty queen, as the Ambassador for Education, her goal is to go to different schools all over the country and offer any help she can give.
“I want to share my story to those children who are experiencing the same hardships. I want to inspire and motivate them to achieve greater things in their lives,” she said. (Push/PN)
