Philippine Self-Help Foundation
A Reunion with Marc Louie After 10 Years
Marc Louie with his family in 2015.
The family in November 2025.
Introducing Marc Louie …
We first came to know Marc Louie a decade ago when he was in his early teens. He suffered from a rare blood disease known as Thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder, from which two of his siblings had tragically died. We have provided Marc Louie’s parents with a grant every year to cover the cost of his quarterly blood transfusions.
A visit to Marc Louie and his family…
I had not met up with Marc Louie for 10 years so I was excited to see him and his family again on September 11th. I was accompanied by my friend and PSHF trustee, Rhiza, her friend Shannon visiting from the USA and Sherry, our long-term administrator for the province.
The three of us took the Ceres bus from Bacolod in mid morning and an hour later, we got off the bus in the town Centre of Valladolid. Marc Louie was there waiting for us. We immediately got talking as to when it was that we had last met and we agreed it must have been about a decade ago.
I had heard that Marc Louie was studying Agricultural Business in Valladolid’s college and that he had recently been awarded a leadership certificate. I also knew that his education had been severely affected by having to undergo periodic blood transfusions so I was intrigued to know how he had come through the challenge of having had his education so disrupted. He never graduated from high school but instead he did an ALS (Adult Learning System) course that led to his receiving a high school diploma. This qualified him to enrol in college.
I was immediately struck by his extremely good English and a level of self-confidence that I had not expected. We took a tricycle to reach his home which is close to the seashore. His mother Melu was there to greet us. Marc Louie’s father, Mario Sr. arrived shortly afterwards.
We all went inside the house and sat down. Melu prepared some fresh coconut juice for us and then we spent the next hour catching up on developments in the family over the past several years.
I learn that Mario Sr. continues to work as a fish vendor and Melu makes Bukayo (coconut candy) which she sells in the neighbourhood; their combined income is about 300 pesos (US$5) a day.
Marc Louie’s sister, Maria Theresa known to all as EmEm, is married to Jestoni and they have a 2 year-old daughter named Mary Quinzel; his brother Mario Jr. earns a living as a delivery man for online orders.
The family members all live in close proximity to each other and the bonds between them are strong. One concern in the family is EmEm’s daughter Mary Quinzel; she is showing signs of mild Thalassemia (a low haemoglobin count) so as a precautionary measure, she is taking Folic acid supplements, like her uncle, and having regular check-ups.
The conversation turns back to Marc Louie and his college life. He tells us that his classmates turn to him when they need help with their English; this is really quite remarkable, given his disrupted schooling. His good command of English largely comes from reading books on his phone and watching English language videos in the hospital when he is having blood transfusions. His mother stays with him for his three day hospital stays.
Our pleasant time of conversation draws to a close but as we are preparing to leave, we are delighted to see EmEm drop by and she has her daughter in her arms. This is a chance for further catching up ( it has been 10 years) and the taking of more photos. This is also a happy reunion for Sherry and EmEm; it should be mentioned that Sherry is extremely hard of hearing so it is nice to see the two of them conversing and enjoying each other’s company.
We bid our farewells and start walking back to the main road with Marc Louie and EmEm. On the way, I spot a piso wifi coin slot machine - I have never seen one of these. I buy a 1 peso ‘load’ (valid for 10 minutes) and call Mary Blanche in our school in Cebu. I want to ask her if we have a spare laptop in the school as Marc Louie badly needs one to write his college thesis. I obtain the good news that we do have one available and inform Marc Louie; he is delighted!
We arrive at the main road and within a few minutes, an aircon Ceres bus arrives. We bid our farewells to Marc Louie and EmEm and board the bus for the one hour ride back to Bacolod city.
Richard Foster