Instead of playing with toys and other stuff, 11-year-old Ricardo Cruz chose to have fun with fire, but in a different way.
Also called by his friends and playmates as Banny, he has been an active volunteer of Pasig Alliance Volunteer Group (PAVG) for four months already as a firefighter.
However, to secure his safety, his fellows don’t allow him to get indulged with the actual firefighting whenever there is an incident of fire but only assist them is the very thing he do.
Banny is tasked to clean and check the fire truck and sometimes fix the gear of the firefighters.
Aside from being a volunteer fire fighter, Banny has been serving his community as an aid to his older brother who’s a barangay watchman.. He used to join his older brother roam around their area every nightly patrol.
“We told him it was less risky to join our group. If he stays with the barangay security force, he might find himself caught in a crossfire, especially should a riot break out,” PACG founder Arnold de Lima said in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Although Banny is not being paid with his job, yet the group is taking care of his basic needs such as his food and clothing which is really a great help considering that his mother who works a laundryman has 11 children to take good care.
Banny dropped out of school but now he is looking forward to enroll as a Grade 4 student at Bagong Ilog Elementary School this opening of classes by with the encouragement of his fellow firefighters as well.
“We hope that Banny will serve as an inspiration to kids and out-of-school youth; to those who have strayed off the right path and become a burden to their parents. Banny may be an out-of-school youth but he has already contributed a lot to society,” De Lima further added.
Photo Credit: Inquirer.net/Lyn Rillon