Hi. My name is Karen Laurente. The photo at left is of me and my Mom in front of our humble home in Lacong. The photo was taken by the SAS Ai Field Team when they visited with us to bring us the good news that I had been selected as one of the fortunate recipients of the scholarship award to attend St Augustine School.

Please excuse our modest surroundings. You see, these days it's just me and my Mom trying to make due. My dear father passed on and now my Mom and I are by ourselves to face the realities of life. Not that we can't cope; we are doing okay - honest, we are. God is good to all those who have faith in Him.

My mother is a very industrious woman, creative and a shrewd (I mean very hard to discourage) produce vendor. She can take the smallest eggplants, tomatoes that have been stunted in growth, the green shoots and flowers of squash, the flowers of catuday and present them in her basket to look like the most luscious vegetables you have ever seen. I am so proud of my mother's indomitable spirit. The one thing that I have never seen my mother do is to openly display her sense of desperation and helplessness being left by herself to fend for her family. I admire my mother's positive outlook in life. I hope to emulate her steadfast example as I come face-to-face with my high school studies.

Every now and then I remember my father. It was wonderful to have him around. I really missed him during the scholarship presentations. You see, he was always on the forefront when it came to my education. He took deep interest in my school work sometimes giving me a hand if I had any problems in arithmetic and science. He took care of the property, trimmed the brush and trees around the house. He was the one who erected my mother's clothes line and the fence that keeps some of the un-penned hogs and free roaming goats from coming into our vegetable garden. My father was a very handy person with mechanical things and with everyday things. He was gentle, patient and was always ready to share whatever it was he had come across to snack on - be it fruit, sugarcane, or raw sugar candy. All I can say is that I do miss my father.

I have become very close with my mother ever since I lost my Dad. Perhaps I have come to realize that when I had both of them to look after me things were more manageable. Today, my mother asks me to do more things to help around the house. I totally understand this need and I am very willing to give my mother a hand wherever she needs it and whenever she needs it. I know deep in my heart that life has become hard for her as well. She loved my father even more than I ever could and I do sympathize with her.

If my father were alive today, he would not only be proud of what SAS Ai has done, he would want to be a member of this great organization.