MANILA, Philippines — On Tuesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared a video about a Filipina who decided to venture out of her comfort zone by taking up a bachelors degree in computer science despite her impoverished state.
This is an amazing story about Riza -- a young woman on a small island where the only job for women was collecting seashells, yet she used Internet.org to earn a degree in computer science.Being connected means having opportunity. We're going to connect the whole world so one day everyone can achieve their full human potential -- just like Riza.
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Monday, October 12, 2015
"Nakatira ako sa isang mailiit na isla. Ang tanging trabaho ng mga babae dito ay mamulot ng kabibe. Subalit higit pa ang gusto ko sa sarili ko," says Riza Mae Tachado on the video.
Fueled with passion to get an education, she endured taking a boat ride everyday just to get to the mainland Antique in Panay island to attend classes.
She also mentioned encountering hindrances like the time when typhoon hit their island, which made it impossible for her to cross the island. According to her, the free internet services of Internet.org, a free data connectivity helped her a lot to succeed in her studies.
"Silid aralan ang telepono ko, to communicate with my groupmates. Ginamit ko at ng mga kaklase ko and Facebook through Internet.org para maisulat namin ang thesis namin," she said on the video.
The video accumulated more than two million views in less than 24 hours. One user commented that the Facebook mogul should offer Tachado a job to which Zuckerberg responded, "That's a good idea!"