Arvin Curangcurang is 6 years old and in second grade in Barangay Cabatang, a village in Alicia, in the province of Bohol, Philippines.
When classes moved online, his family discovered there was no signal at home. They searched the surrounding area until they found the only spot nearby where mobile data could reach: the top of a hill, in the middle of a rice field, about 600 meters from his home. There they built a small tree house, and from there the boy connects to his class. But even there, the connection is far from perfect. His aunt Giecel said that when the signal is strong, Arvin can concentrate; when it cuts out, he loses track and doesn’t understand what’s happening because the class is interrupted.
Arvin says he will keep trying. All he asks is that one day a stable signal will reach him so he can hear his classmates and teacher. In this case, the desk is a branch, and access to education depends on a couple of bars of signal.
