Abandoned

Rosenda looks younger than her registered age of 15. Abandoned by her mother at birth, she was left in the care of an old woman who persuaded her mother not to abort the child but to give the child to her instead. "I never knew who my real parents were."

She helps her poor adoptive family by doing odd jobs as a domestic helper in her squatter neighborhood. "I fetch water and our neighbors ask me to run errands like buying stuff from the market. Usually I fetch a lot of water. I have to fill up a drum twice heavier than me. Sometimes it's far from the source and they tell me off if I can't manage to do it."

Rosenda is among the many working children who underwent psychosocial processing with Visayan Forum. Being only in second grade does not prevent her from dreaming to become a social worker someday.

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