December 16, 2005

Insufficient education teaches hard lessons

Mother’s seven children graduate with honors

By Donna H. Eliason
Staff Writer

Before she became a mother, Petra Mariano saw the importance of education through her own experiences. Benefiting from her knowledge, all seven of her children graduated with university honors.

Petra Mariano worked day and night to support her seven children when her husband died.

Mariano and her five siblings grew up in Barcelona, Philippines. There they attended school, but often had to help their tenant farmer father with the rice and vegetable fields. To provide for the family, he worked in the fields during the day and fished at night. He died from malaria when Mariano was just 10 years old.

War ends schooling
Mariano’s schooling ended during her sophomore year in high school when the Japanese attacked the Philippines. She remembers hiding under rice plants when she heard the Japanese motors.

Because married women were safer, in l944 she married Florentino Mariano, a man 10 years older, whom she admired and respected. He owned a small plot of land, which became home to their growing family of seven children.

After Florentino died, Mariano became a widow without an income. She was forced to find creative ways to care for her children. During the day she farmed their small land parcel. At night she made craft items, blankets, mosquito nets and requested clothes for the neighbors. She sold many items in local markets. Since their home was near the school, they made and sold cookies, candies and pickled fruit to buy school supplies.

Each child had specific responsibilities, but was trained to do any family job. The boys took care of the animals: pigs, carabaos (water buffalo), cows and chickens. The eggs, chickens and vegetables were sold at the market. The girls did the housekeeping, laundry and cooking. The youngest boy cared for his younger sister.

Importance of education
Mariano wanted to see all her children educated. One neighbor commented how ambitious she was to send them all to school. Schooling was free through the fourth grade. From fifth grade up, she had to pay fees that increased with each grade level unless students meet specific academic standards.

She told her children, “If you don’t have a complete education, you’ll be like me, having to work day and night.” She adds, “I trusted God to give me the guidance, wisdom and strength I needed.”

Mariano made sure her children were successful. “I read all the books the children brought home. I wanted to help them take advantage of the knowledge they received.”

Life was often difficult. One year there wasn’t enough rain to grow rice. Mariano had to find rice in other areas to meet her family’s needs. Another year, her eldest son, Neuver, quit school because there wasn’t enough money for the younger children’s schooling.

To get him back into school, Mariano borrowed money. When he graduated from the university, he got a job to pay off all Mariano’s debts. “He helped me a lot,” remembers Mariano. “He was ‘my shoulder” to lean upon.”

All graduate with honors
All seven children graduated with university honors in the Philippines. Now four are teachers, two engineers and one an agriculturalist. Three live here in the United States.

When her daughter Tessie had her first baby, Mariano came here to help her in l989. She now lives with her son and his wife in Evergreen. Her family has grown to l6 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.

Mariano says, “I suffered from many hardships. I learned that if you don’t complete enough education for a good job, you will undergo hardships always. The inheritance I gave my children is education—not only academic, but spiritual.”