28/07/2025
A Heart That Teaches Beyond the Classroom: ๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ค๐ง๐ฎ ๐ค๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐
๐ Plamango Integrated School | Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat
In a quiet, rural community nestled in Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat, lives a woman whose devotion to her students transcends lesson plans and daily attendance. Maโam Zyrine of Plamango Integrated School is not just a teacherโshe is a lifeline, a warrior of kindness, and a mother in spirit to those who need it most.
Among her students were four precious girlsโAllea Hope, Kristine, Reacel, and Jenelynโeach carrying not only the physical mark of a cleft lip and palate but the emotional weight of being different. These young girls had grown up in silence, hiding their smiles, avoiding mirrors, and enduring stares and whispers that no child should ever have to face. Their world was small, their confidence even smaller.
When Maโam Zyrine heard through their school head about a free cleft surgical mission led by Operation Smile Philippines, her heart skipped a beat. Instantly, she thought of her girlsโnot as patients, but as daughters longing for a chance to smile freely. She knew what this opportunity could mean: not just physical healing, but a transformation of spirit and self-worth.
But she also knew that poverty, distance, and hopelessness could easily stand in the way. So she did what very few wouldโshe took it upon herself to bridge the impossible.
She messaged the Operation Smile Cleft Center Mindanaoโs page, gathered every document, every requirement, and made sure no detail was overlooked. She knocked on doors for donations, sought help from kindhearted souls, and reassured anxious parents who had long given up hope. Their Mayor also supported them by providing transportation for these patients.
And then, she did more.
When the big day came, Maโam Zyrine didn't just send the childrenโshe went with them together with her co-teacher, Mary Joy Tabaculde. These two teachers traveled with them during the students' final screening, stayed by their side through pre-surgery jitters, and sleepless nights, and waitedโoften with tears in their eyesโoutside operating rooms, praying silently for their safety.
And when the surgeries were over, she was still thereโhelping change dressings, lifting spirits, ensuring every student was fed, cared for, and loved. She didnโt go home until her students were cleared and safely discharged.
Because for Maโam Zyrine, this wasnโt just about correcting a condition. It was about restoring dignity, igniting confidence, and opening doors that were once tightly shut by circumstance.
Today, these four girls walk taller. They speak more freely. And when they smile, they do so not just with mended lips, but with mended heartsโall because one teacher believed in the power of kindness.
Maโam Zyrine Karatuan is a true embodiment of what it means to be an educatorโnot just a giver of knowledge, but a giver of hope.
โจ Her story is a reminder that sometimes, the most life-changing lessons arenโt taught from a blackboard, but from the quiet, consistent acts of love.
Sometimes, all it takes is one person to change the course of a childโs life. ๐
