For kids in a town called Marilao, a Bag of Hope springs eternal

For some parents, choosing a school is a no-brainer – usually, the one closest to home is the one. But for two women in Marilao, Bulacan, picking a school for their young ones turned out to be a rather complicated decision. 

No notebooks, no school?
 
Lola Rosalinda Duldulao says her grandson, Lawrence, along with his four other siblings, were put under her care after their parents went on separate ways. As their guardian and grandmother, she says she wants the best school she could afford for her grandchildren, but at the moment, her income as laundry washer is not enough to buy notebooks and pens for them. Lawrence, 11, is one of the top students in fifth grade, but he almost missed his chance to enroll because money was tight.