A homeless Filipino boy has been overwhelmed with aid after a photograph of him studying on the pavement using faint light from a McDonald's outlet went viral on the internet.
Nine-year-old Daniel Cabrera will now be able to fulfil his dream of
becoming a policeman after donations of cash, school supplies and a
college scholarship poured in, his mother, Christina Espinosa, said on
Friday.
"We're overjoyed. I don't know what I will do with all of these blessings," said Ms Espinosa, a 42-year-old grocery store employee and domestic helper. "Now, Daniel will not have to suffer just to finish his studies."
The photograph, posted on Facebook last month by a college student, showed Daniel doing his homework on a wooden stool placed close to a McDonald's window to catch the light from the store.
The 20-year-old medical technology student, Joyce Torrefranca, captioned her Facebook post: "I got inspired by a kid."
It was then shared close to 7,000 times on the social networking site and reported by local television.
Local politician Samuel Pagdilao, of the Anti-Crime and Terrorism
through Community Involvement & Support (ACT-CIS) party, awarded
Daniel an unspecified "scholarship grant", ABS-CBN reported.
The local police force also raised funds and provided groceries for the family.
Ms Espinosa and her three youngest children, including Daniel, have been living in her employer's mini-grocery store since their shanty home was gutted by fire five years ago.
Ms Espinosa said she earned just 80 pesos (£1.14) a day working at the store and as a domestic helper for the store's owners in their nearby home. She augments the income by selling cigarettes and candy on the streets on Mandaue, an urban centre on Cebu island in the central Philippines.
Their grocery store home is close to the McDonald's outlet where Daniel was photographed studying, she said.
Daniel's father died in 2013 due to severe diarrhoea, said Ms Espinosa, who has three older children, all married and living separate from her.
She described the boy as a tenacious child with a single-mined focus on getting an education.
"We're overjoyed. I don't know what I will do with all of these blessings," said Ms Espinosa, a 42-year-old grocery store employee and domestic helper. "Now, Daniel will not have to suffer just to finish his studies."
The photograph, posted on Facebook last month by a college student, showed Daniel doing his homework on a wooden stool placed close to a McDonald's window to catch the light from the store.
The 20-year-old medical technology student, Joyce Torrefranca, captioned her Facebook post: "I got inspired by a kid."
It was then shared close to 7,000 times on the social networking site and reported by local television.
Local politician Samuel Pagdilao, of the Anti-Crime and Terrorism
through Community Involvement & Support (ACT-CIS) party, awarded
Daniel an unspecified "scholarship grant", ABS-CBN reported. The local police force also raised funds and provided groceries for the family.
Ms Espinosa and her three youngest children, including Daniel, have been living in her employer's mini-grocery store since their shanty home was gutted by fire five years ago.
Ms Espinosa said she earned just 80 pesos (£1.14) a day working at the store and as a domestic helper for the store's owners in their nearby home. She augments the income by selling cigarettes and candy on the streets on Mandaue, an urban centre on Cebu island in the central Philippines.
Their grocery store home is close to the McDonald's outlet where Daniel was photographed studying, she said.
Daniel's father died in 2013 due to severe diarrhoea, said Ms Espinosa, who has three older children, all married and living separate from her.
She described the boy as a tenacious child with a single-mined focus on getting an education.
