Hero of the Week: Flavia Dajalos

It is a general notion that dogs are man’s best friend, but do dogs consider humans as their best friends as well? Although it may not be possible to ask a dog for its opinion, there is at least one person who may indeed be considered a best friend and mother of the dogs that she cares for.

Flavia Dajalos, from Garcia Hernandez Bohol, has always treated her dogs with the same level of goodness and caring as she would any other human being. Even if the dog is not the most adorable or of the finest breed, Flavia cares for these dogs as if they were her own  children. It is her opinion that every dog deserves a home.

Flavia’s father is a hard working farmer and her mother was a tailor, who passed away at an early age from breast cancer. She will never forget how that sickness slowly took the life out of her dear mother. But perhaps from that experience, she learned from her mother’s fight for life that there the human spirit is capable of great courage and persistence despite the greatest of odds against them.

Her mother’s death made life far more difficult for the family. Flavia’s family struggled through the emotional trauma of their mother’s death and the financial burdens that followed. Like her mother, Flavia learned not to surrender. The family continued to work hard, and the children continued to pursue their dreams in life. In time, Flavia became a midwife by profession and her sister became a school teacher.

Completing school and obtaining a profession did not bring an end to the financial problems of life. She only earns the minimum wage, which is not really a reasonable amount to live a comfortable life. But despite the challenge, she remains undaunted and serves her community faithfully as a midwife. She works in a semi- government medical and maternity institution and sometimes accepts child delivery in her own home oftentimes the also struggling family can only pay a meager amount for her professional services yet she takes care of them anyway.

When times get very difficult, lugaw is served – a simple dish of rice cooked with a lot of water to make its consistency almost like a soup. At other times, a soup made of Malunggay leaves from her backyard will feed the household. No matter how lean the budget is, she will still spare some of the food with others even if she has almost nothing to eat. And this includes sharing with her ‘best friends.’ For Flavia, charity is not the bone given to the dog after the meal, it is the bone shared with dog even when there is very little on the table for herself.

Flavia may only be popular or known to the people who knew her or the dogs which she took care of. But her deeds and the kindness she has shown to humans and animals alike make her life bigger than life itself.

Flavia Dajalos is ThePhilComm’s Hero of the Week for her unwavering commitment to serving her community and the depth of her kindness that she shows for all of God’s living creatures.

(photo by Apple)

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