The story of Tatay Alfredo has warmed the hearts of many. His story went viral months ago when he grabbed people’s attention with his love for science. Tatay Alfredo sells newspaper and scavenges Taft Avenue for trash that he can use again. He is known for his intelligence and is not only fluent in English, but also knows and can pronounce the longest words in the dictionary. He can also tell you the scientific words of certain plants.
Andrew Pamorada posted a photo of Tatay Alfredo on Facebook recently with the following caption:
Back in the Taft area today. I was looking for Tatay Alfredo and found him near Quirino to give him this book!Â
It’s a book that I saw and bought sa Booksale sa Iligan. He’s the first person that came to mind when I saw the book and I knew he would really love it, so I bought it immediately. It’s all about flowers and includes the flowers’ scientific names, which he loves to memorize.
He was very happy and even said “75 years ko na hinahanap yang libro na yan, mahal nga niyan eh, 800 pesos sa National Bookstore noong araw.”Â
Tapos he shared to me a ‘technique’, “Babasahin ko yang libro tapos magmememorize ulit ako kasi nakakalimutan ko rin yung iba. Ako matagal na ako natapos magturo noon, pero nagbabasa pa rin ako hanggang ngayon. Kailangan continuous yung pagbabasa everyday para marami tayo matutunan.”Â
PS. Oh, he’s even looking for someone and wants to challenge him/her for a contest of scientific names of plants, hahaha! Oh who’s up for the challenge? :))
Andrew told us that he saw a book about plants and gardening and Tatay Alfredo immediately came to mind:
“Currently, I’m doing volunteer work under De La Salle Philippines. Tapos, I’m assigned in Iligan in Mindanao. What I do is teach the kids on one of the remote community there (nursery and kinder). Doon ko nakita yung book ni tatay sa Iligan so when I got back last Sunday from Mindanao, hinanap ko siya nung Tueaday ata yun to give him the book.”
Tatay Alfredo Manuel is a scavenger in Ermita, Manila. He frequents Taft Avenue a lot and encounters different kinds of people day by day, especially students.
He graduated from the University of the East and passed the Teacher’s Board Exam. He worked as a janitor to get himself through school. He was rejected over and over again and was discouraged to teach.
If you would like to help Tatay Alfredo, you may refer to this link.
What do you think of Tatay Alfredo’s story?
