Please Support Jonathan's Children

(Jonathan is third from the left José is next to him) On 26 June 2020, our uncle, Jonathan, passed away aged 44. Fifteen years ago, he was diagnosed with a chronic autoimmune disease, myasthenia gravis. But due to further complications, he died from stage four lung cancer after being diagnosed in November 2019. Due to the full lockdown in Cebu, hospitals have no proper procedures for non-COVID-19 related issues. If he died in the hospital, his body would have been cremated immediately. So, he decided to spend his final moments with his family in their home. Due to the lockdown, he could not receive a proper wake, ceremony or burial at the place where my late grandfather was buried, whom he died the same age as.  Fortunately, José was able to visit them during September of last year. But it is sad and frustrating that our family cannot travel there now to emotionally and financially support our auntie, grandmother and cousins—especially the younger ones who do not even realise the situation. Our family have been consistently supporting them financially since we immigrated to Australia, as our uncle and his wife decided to stay in the Philippines despite their financial situation. It is sometimes challenging to send sufficient money for all of them whilst having our own expenses, but our parents always do their best. However, in this time of need, it is more challenging to help our auntie—who barely earns enough to buy essential items for all seven of them—because our mother, Jocelyn, lost her job.  We hope to raise enough money to support all of our cousins’ education—all five of them! We hope to provide them with a better, consistent education through tutors or even transferring them to a more helpful and caring private school. We also plan to purchase a computer/laptop for them to help them with distance learning during the lockdown. We also hope that they can all visit us in Australia one day after travel bans are lifted. First is Jobet, who is 21 years old. However, he is still in year 12 because he failed school twice due to insufficient help from teachers with his learning difficulties. He worked for a year, but we encouraged him to finish high school and he is now very determined to. Second is Joshua, who is 18 years old. He is still in year 10 because he quit school and ran away to live with other relatives for a year due to family issues. He, too, is committed to finishing school now. Third is Jonel, who is 16 years old. He is still in year 10 because he was kept down down after failing one subject. For Jobet, Joshua and Jonel, their schools do not provide help and their mother simply cannot afford extra help, so the school keeps them down a school grade which is an extra year of school fees until they graduate. Lastly is Jonas, who is 10 years old, and Princess, who is 7 years old. Our auntie struggles to pay for the repeat years for the older children and can barely pay the fees for the younger ones. We wish to give them the same opportunites that we have worthwhile education, where they can learn and also have fun Their mother's only wish is to get all five of them to graduate from high school, but it is becoming increasingly hard. We could really use your help! Please help share this campaign. The smallest donations can still make the biggest difference. Thank you so much!