Candy

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Candy / Bonj

For creative minds, there are no limits. Bonj or Candy to her relatives, remembers her childhood as one without the luxuries what many children now are taking for granted.

“A TV set was a luxury then, so whenever Sugar and I wanted to watch a show, we’d either climb up our front-door neighbor’s fence or watch behind the glass door of another neighbor, sticking our faces on the glass and covering the sides with our hands so there won’t be any reflection,” she fondly recollects. “We couldn’t hear the volume of what we’re watching so everything was like a slapstick comedy to us.”

Instead of pitying themselves because they couldn’t enjoy things other children their age had, they simply found ways to entertain themselves. Bonj remembers the tv set her sisters made with a box and continuous computer papers – something that had been popular with the old dot matrix printers before – their mother, a university computer teacher, always had plenty of. Sugar, their middle sister, made the story, while she and Honey, the eldest, did the drawings.

While they didn’t get to enjoy the usual entertainment children spent their time on, they were the first to have a computer in their village. They didn’t have unnecessary toys, but they were showered with books and learning materials. They had one computer game – Prince of Persia – which they were only allowed to play when they are done studying.

She and her sisters only had a few toys to share with each other. Among these had been a 100-pc Lego set, the cheapest pack that was available then. It was a gift to her by her godparents. But the building blocks were enough to let her imagination take shape.

“My favorite was the RV truck Sugar and I kept building with the limited pieces we had,” she fondly recollects. “We’ve always dreamt of living in an RV truck near a river or a waterfall.”

Two decades later, that child, although not living in a truck nor somewhere near a body of water, had pursued her dreams of travel and adventure. Now she is living independently since 2019, choosing to live by the moment than go through the traditional career paths most people are stuck with.

Bonj had originally wanted to become a doctor to volunteer in war-stricken countries, countries that are experiencing famine. But then she realized that her home country, the Philippines, is also very poor. Perhaps, it is where her talents are more needed. Having lost interest in academics though as she became more inclined to the arts, she ended up wanting to become an artist, a philanthropist artist.

For a time, she had been a teacher of Plus Factor back when it had been a purely tutorial center. “Preschool kids learned Reading and Math with me and they all excelled in class,” she said proudly.

Growing up, Bonj had been a socially anxious child. She was awkward with other children who were not her sisters or close cousins. So she could relate when children could not express themselves because of similar inhibitions. But since the tutorial center had a personalized approach to learning, she knew how to coax the children to do their best and explore their potentials.

“To be an instrument of these kids’ strong foundation in their education has made a huge impact on me. And I can say that I was one of the greatest teachers they had,” Bonj said.

As the center is transforming into a holistic child care and wellness center, Bonj continues to provide creative support to Plus Factor remotely. She continues to do the visual designs for the learning materials and media needs of the center.

“My sisters and I are kids at heart and love to be around kids too,” she said. “But we don’t want to have one of our own for different reasons. So a business that involves kids as clients was the best idea for us. We can enjoy the company of kids, teach them, and play the coolest games with them.”

One day, Bonj hopes she could start, still with her sisters, a foundation for kids who have special needs. She envisions to be part of an equitable and just society where kids can be whoever they want to be, free to express themselves without fear of discrimination, and where everyone respects each other.

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