World Vision Noche Buena 2017 | Bea counts down to Christmas

In Zamboanga del Norte, one of the poorest provinces where World Vision serves in Mindanao, lives nine-year old Bea, a sponsored child whose heart swells with joy every Christmas. Bea is the third of seven siblings. She lives in a poor farming village, a 6-hour drive from the local airport. Her father farms while her mother attends to a small sari-sari store owned by a cooperative.

To get to and from school, Bea walks the mountainous terrain for one hour every day. Despite the long tiring trek, Bea barely rests at home as she also babysits her siblings whenever her parents are away. At a young age, she has become dependable in feeding their youngest with homegrown vegetables which they share as a family.

Compared with other nine-year olds, Bea seems to have matured faster from the challenges and responsibilities of life early on. But whenever Christmas crosses her mind, Bea’s eyes light up in a different way.

“’Pag pasko, nagsasabit kami ng parol sa pintuan at nagkakaroling kami kauban ang akong mga igsuon (During Christmas, we hang a parol on our door and I would go carolling with my siblings),” Bea recalled.

Bea’s family usually feasts on puto, budbod, and adobong manok to celebrate Christmas. When she became part of World Vision, Bea and her family delightfully received a Noche Buena gift from her sponsor which included her favorite Christmas food—spaghetti!

“Masayang-masaya ako ug akong mga igsuon kay nakadawat mi og Noche Buena nga regalo tungod kay nadugangan among handa sa pasko (We are very happy to receive a Noche Buena gift because we get to celebrate with more food during Christmas).”

Bea is slowly counting down the days to Christmas so she can joyfully celebrate it with her family again.

This season of giving, bring joy to the homes of children like her. World Vision/November 22, 2017