Sometimes it happens that social networks report stories that are not current, but are so beautiful that they deserve to be told above all because they have a happy ending. And this is the case of a photo published on Facebook in 2015: in the image there is a child, an eleven year old who sleeps on the street embraced by a dog. It is ’ lying on what looks like a drain, where grass has grown. Always better than the stones next to him. As “ mattress ” has a piece of cardboard. With one arm the four-legged is held tight, the other hand is close to a plastic cup with which he asks for alms.
We are in the Philippines and taking that picture is Maria Kabs who also tells the story: « The humble teacher and his faithful dog. After going viral on social media, I thought it would be better to talk to the guy behind the touching photo I posted. His name is Rommel Quemenales, an eleven-year-old boy who lives around the GMA Network Complex in Quezon City. Her parents separated when she was young. He has an older sister who visits San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan whenever he has money ».
And in that street life, where the main purpose is to survive, Rommel found a faithful friend with whom to share the days: a stray dog, a homeless man like him who adopted and called Badgi.
« He is very intelligent. He was just deeply naive. I’m teaching him tricks » tells the boy as he hugs him, fills him with cuddles and sings him a song.
When Maria Kabs published her story on social media, she did it with the hope that many would share the story and that someone could help him. And so it was. « I try to put some money aside because I would love to go back to studying » Rommel had told her with two lively and full of life eyes.
And at least that wish was the first to be fulfilled: a few weeks after the publication of those photos the child, with the help of the TV show Front Row was able to receive school uniforms and notebooks and be able to enroll in the second grade. But his story didn’t end there: given his difficult family condition, with no one who could take care of him, Rommel often went back to the street to try and raise money.
The TV show was thus further interested in its history and brought up the systems of social services until its history had a happy ending: Rommel, and of course Badgi, he was adopted by a family and finally started a normal life. His kind gesture towards an unfortunate dog like him eventually changed his fate.
