Behind the Scenes: The Story of Gary Gulane

"While I was growing up, our family’s financial situation was anything but bright. My father was a habal-habal (passenger motorcycle) driver, while my mother was a house help. Their income was just enough to pay the debts that they have owed for a long time. When I was in grade school, my father and mother met a motorcycle accident that led them to loan a big amount of money for hospitalization. Other than paying their debts, there was barely enough money for our food. There were times when he would go fishing so that we had food on our table. He gathered firewood to sell in the market and he labored in a farm that was not ours to earn additional income. On days when I didn’t have classes, I would help my father go fishing or work in the farm. Sometimes, I would gather coconut shells and I would sell them to earn money. I would usually do these on weekends, thus, not once did I get the chance to attend the Free Tutorial Sessions offered in our school on weekends, which I badly wanted to do but couldn’t. 


While I was going through high school, particularly fourth year high school, getting into college did not occur in my mind. I saw that my parents were not financially able to support my college studies and I had no one in mind that could. I planned to be a fisherman and a farmer, and then when I would have enough money saved, I would go to Cebu to look for work as a janitor or laborer. That was my humble plan.

Graduation from high school was approaching, and I got even more and more envious of my classmates who took entrance exams at different schools. I thought they were very lucky someone can send them to college. 

One day, the Tutors who gave the Free Tutorials Sessions in our school brought an entrance exam to our school for electrical/mechanical/electromechanical technician courses at a technical vocational school in Cebu – Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise. In the orientation, we were told how education at their institution was made affordable for students like us who come from financially challenged families. I thought there was no harm in trying. I was excited, though I had my reservations. To make the long story short, I went through the application process with other (male) students from our school and I passed. We were assisted through the enrollment process by the Tutors. They also looked for scholarship grants for us and luckily I was one of those who got awarded a full scholarship.

I could say studying in CITE was very challenging. During the 1st half of the 3-year schooling, I could say the subjects were mind-wrecking. There were always a lot of assignments and almost every day there was a quiz, especially in Math. But overall, CITE has greatly helped me with my technical skills and in the spiritual aspect. Despite the challenges, I persevered because I believed that was my only chance to get a post-secondary education. 

Looking at the senior students who were having their on-the-job training gave me a lot of hope. I said to myself that I got lucky to have gotten into CITE, and with a full scholarship at that. The scholarship helped me big time because if not for the scholarship, I would have had a really hard time with my living expenses. I am forever grateful. I am also grateful to my parents because they were very involved in my schooling. I never ran out of their all-out moral support.

After graduation, I immediately got a job in a Copper Smelter and Refinery - PASAR. It was a very good training ground for me. Then, after 5 years, I got a very good job opportunity here in the Middle East. This is a very big achievement for me. I have this achievement maybe because I have always thanked and prayed to God, and I always strived to pursue my dreams. This job has greatly helped me and my family. We have paid the debt that my parents owed for the longest time. We have started making improvements on our house. We have bought our own small farm. 

I am very happy and thankful to God that he has continuously blessed me. I went through really difficult times in my life and yet I also received so many blessings. Now it is my turn to pay it forward and help those who are in the same situation as I was before when I almost had nothing but hope."

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Let Gary's story inspire you to rise from whatever challenge you are facing in life. Let his perseverance serve as an example to never let anything deter you from reaching your dreams. And let his generosity move you to pay it forward and help those in need.

God bless Gary and God bless everyone!

~Chacha :)