Video of street kid studying in rain goes viral on Facebook

Eight-year old Lorensalie Elaine Dolfu shields herself with black blanket as she studies under the rain. TAKEN from ROLANDO VILLANUEVA’s facebook page

There’s a homeless girl in Malate, Manila, who won’t let anything get in the way of her dream to finish school.

In the afternoon of July 5, 8-year-old Lorensalie Elaine Dolfu just arrived at the place she stays outside in an apartment building. Suddenly, a heavy rain fell.

But Elaine, who wants to be on top of her class, needed to finish her homework. So she kept on going, shielding herself and her book and notebook from the rain with a black blanket, as her mother Elenita kept sleeping beside her.

Rolando Villanueva caught the scene in a video that he posted on Facebook.

According to him, Elaine is a third grade student at the Aurora Quezon Elementary School.

Her father Jerry works as a sidecar driver but is now sick. She also has a 4-year old sister, Alexandra Rose, a nursery student.

Villanueva, a facility manager at Now Corp. in Makati, said he had a project to attend to at the area on that day.

He went out and was on way to a store to curtains and other materials when the rain fell.

“I saw the girl at one side with her mother and younger sister,” he said, speaking in Filipino. “I was amazed because she was studying in the middle of the rain.”

So he talked with Elaine, who told her that she would wake up as early as 4:30 a.m. to prepare for school.

“Her dream is to lift her family from their situation,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva also noted he took the video to inspire his children to have the same passion for studying.

“I thought of taking a video to show to my children who are almost of the same age so that they will be inspired to study,” he said

The video has been watched by almost five million Facebook users and shared over 40,000 times as of this posting.