Dream come true for talking-impaired woman, 66
Local News • 02:12 AM Sat Apr 14, 2018
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By:
Edwin O. Fernandez
Amuba Akmad smiles as she receives her certificate. (Photo by Rahim Tambag )
COTABATO CITY – Completing education is dream come
true for a 66 year-old mother who despite her difficulty in speaking managed to
complete her junior high school at a state-run institution here.
And her graduation march went viral after a school mate posted her photos on Facebook. As of Wednesday, the 39,484 likes and
31,019 likes.
A dream come true, how sweet it is marching on
stage, Amina Akmad, more known as Milet, of Barangay Bagua, Cotabato City, said
in Filipino.
Akmad was one of the more than 1,000 junior high
school who marched during moving up ceremonies at the Cotabato City National
High School main campus on Friday, April 6.
Her frail body did not prevent Akmad from regularly
attending classes. In fact, she was recognized as Perfect Attendance awardee.
Holding her certificate of completion, Akmad
admitted her speaking deficiency made her schooling doubly difficult but her
perseverance prevailed.
My classmates laughed at me, teased me more often
but I just laugh and we all laugh, Akmad said how she survived school bullying
of there was one.
The teasing, she said, served as her inspiration to
prove to her classmates that it did not hinder her to finish, at least, junior
high.
I am like a celebrity when I received my
certificate and everybody in the gymnasium was cheering for me, the teary-eyed
Akmad said in Filipino in an interview.
Akmad, speaking through her nasal, said she wanted
to pursue senior high school in the same school where she felt she is
recognized as human being.
Panfilo Cedenio, CCNHS principal, in a TV Patrol interview, lauded Akmad for
her feat saying she pursued education despite being a senior citizen and
talking problems.
Her sister Emma said their father did not send her
to school because of her speaking deficiency but Akmad’s dream to complete
education, even just high school, persisted.
Akmad has three children, two of them died while the
youngest has gone on his own. She said
she parted ways with her husband and she has no idea where her youngest child.
Her dream is to
become a radio announcer or reporter and regularly visits radio stations in
Cotabato City.