A member of the Indigenous Peoples (IP) passed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) Level 3 or N3 in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan.
Darlyn Blancia, a resident of the sub-village of Kumaliskis, Don Salvador Benedicto, is recipient of the Negros Occidental Scholarship Program under the Assistance to Grade 10 students in Miyakonojo Higashi High School, Japan.
The press release from the Provincial Capitol said Blancia is the youngest among five siblings. She was only 15 when she applied for a scholarship in Japan in 2018.
She was raised by her mother, Merlinda Blancia, singlehandedly, along with her siblings after they were abandoned by their father more than a decade ago.
Her mother worked as house helper to support her and her siblings. They lived in a one-room, makeshift house that they use as kitchen by day, and bedroom by night.
When Blancia was chosen as one of the scholars for Japan, she had hoped that this would give her the opportunity to give mother a better future.
On 10 February 2021, Blancia is graduating from Miyakonojo Higashi High School.
She will then continue her studies at the Houshin School of Healthcare for two years.
Now that she is 18, she will be able to work part-time while studying at Houshin so that she can support herself in Japan.
Karen Dinsay, head of the Negros Occidental Scholarship Program Division said, “I was teary-eyed the whole time I was interviewing Darlyn in her house three years ago. Listening to her story and being in a place she humbly calls ‘home’ strongly tugged at my heart strings, how poverty can inspire her and her siblings to strive harder”, she added. (READ also: 25 Negrense scholars pass JLPT in Japan)
Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson congratulated Blancia for being the first IP to pass N3.
He said that this is a tangible indicator that the Provincial Government is doing its best to give equal access to educational opportunities to less privileged but deserving students in Negros Occidental.*
