Kinagiliwan ang mga larawan ng isang dayuhan mula sa Malta at mga kaibigan niyang Ati sa Boracay.
“Our son Josh with the Ati kids in Bulabog 1993 and then again below in 2020 at Ati Village,” ito ang caption ni Patrick O’Cock sa litrato na ipinost niya sa personal Facebook account niya.
Si Patrick ay isang founder ng “Mission of Love” na tumutulong sa mga Ati sa Boracay. Ibinahagi niya sa KAMI ang kuwento sa likod ng makabagbag-damdaming larawan na ito ng kanyang anak na si Josh at ng kanyang mga kaibigang Ati.
Nanirahan pala ang pamilyang O’Cock doon upang tingnan kung paano nila matutulungan ang mga Ati.
“In 1993 my wife Maria and I took our 2 kids Josh and Izzy and another family (Dave and Judy) joined us and we went to live in Boracay to see how we could help the Ati,” pagkukuwento niya.
“We started a daycare center which was also a little school where many of the Ati kids held a pencil for the first time,” dagdag pa niya.
Nang matuloy ang paaralan na itinayo nila ay dito na sila nagsimulang maghanap ng mga sponsor mula sa Malta para sa edukasyon ng mga bata.
“We felt education was the key to helping them in the long run. A lady from Tablas that lived in Boracay came along side us and offered to teach the kids. The school evolved and we started to find sponsors from Malta for the Ati kids education also providing a meal each school day,” pahayag ni Patrick.
Dahil sa pagtutulungan nila ay mayroon na silang mahigit sa 140 Ati kids na natutulungan. Aniya, “That has now grown over the years and today we have over 140 Ati kids sponsored through the charity we established in 1993 called Mission of Love.”
“Our last trip was in 2020 where we were joined by some of the sponsors and my son Josh joined us after 27 years since he was last there. That’s when we took the retake pic although not all the Ati in the original pic were present.”
Ayon naman kay Josh, “Boracay is a very special place to me that I can’t wait to return to! My fiancé Georgia and I have a calling and a mission of love to help rebuild the school for the Ati children. This will be happening in the next few years!”
Amazing people!