But instead of getting angry, Lira picked it up, wiped it with her hand, and ate it again, holding back her tears.

The teachers felt compassion, but there was little they could do.
So every day, Lira walked home with a heavy heart, but with her mother’s promise echoing in her mind:

“Study, daughter. So you don’t have to live like me.”

In high school, things got harder.

While her classmates had new phones and designer shoes, she still wore the same patched uniform and backpack sewn with red and white thread.

After school, she didn’t go out with friends; Instead, she returned home to help her mother sort bottles and cans and sell them at the warehouse before nightfall.