Always sliding to other work

At the age of 9, Rosario started working as a household helper with her hometown's teacher so that she could enroll in first grade. After 4 months, she left her employer because she was blamed for the loss of the carabao. She went to a remote barrio to continue schooling until second grade, even though she often had to go without food. When she was 12 years old, in third grade, she worked with a family whose father was an elementary school teacher of her elder sister. There she stayed for 3 yearsup to the time she finished fifth grade.

She went to Davao City at the age of 14 to look for work and to continue schooling. She only lasted 3 months before going home. She then left again for General Santos City to look for other work. There, she landed in the wax factory where she and 11 others cooked and repacked floor wax. She was paid PhP500 (US$10) for working from 6 in the morning to 8 in the evening, sleeping on the cement floor where they worked, shielded only by sackcloth, and eating only what was left by the Chinese owners. An incident prompted them to escape: Rosario was blamed for the loss of 4 big boxes of wax. Since no one admitted the loss, all of them where locked up at the workplace for 5 days with no light except for what came through a very small window near the attic. They managed to break the small window one evening and escaped through there.

She went back to Davao City in January 1998, looking for employment. She was introduced to the Kasambahay program by her employer.

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