Marikina Valley

Marikina Valley - S3isValley_2
Originally uploaded by Daniel Y. Go

"Marikina used to be an agricultural town. While the old folks had so much to do in the rice field and vegetable farms, majority of middle-aged and the young would readily find themselves busy and enjoying a century-old shoe making industry. It was almost a common sight to see families working together under their respective thatched roofs from early dawn to late evening busy attending to their handcrafted pairs of shoes.

Obviously, because of the nature of this cottage industry, families grew to be well-knit and clannish. Popular education, however, was limited to the "Katon Kristiyano" and to the primary and elementary grades available in a few barrio schools. A few affluent families would easily send their children to high school and college in Manila while those who had hardly enough would still need a lot a time and money to leave shoe making and take trips to and from Rizal. It was natural that a good number of boys and girls missed their secondary and tertiary schooling."

- excerpt from Roosevelt College History