MARIA LOURDES ZARAGOSA – BANSON | SME Awardee | HS 1976

On March 19, 1976 I was pleasantly surprised to be called up on stage for the Marie Eugenie award primarily for my involvement in Social Action. My Dad, Jose Maria whose feast day we celebrated that day, pinned the medal right at the center of my chest. I felt the impact of that medal not only as a physical weight that landed on my heart but also because as it nestled there, it came with huge words in my mind: Education, Housing, Health Care for the underprivileged. Since then I felt the need to know Marie Eugenie better. Her words that kept prompting me to action were:  ” Education is allowing the good in every person to break through the rock that imprisons him/her and bring it to the light where she/he can blossom and shed his/her radiance.”

My choices in life were all grounded on that guiding principle. My first job was as a teacher in Assumption and then I went on to do public service programs to educate people on health issues, self -expression through music and spirituality. I spent the best years of my life with a group of Nanays from Malibay, Pasay creating and sustaining a prayerful community and building homes for relocation. I continued my work with Fr. James B. Reuter performing in stage productions and TV shows that brought people closer to God and the Blessed Mother. I got involved with fostering and adoption. I joined the Order of Malta to care for the poor and the sick. Nurturing through education for me spells freedom. It makes people shine. I believe that is what Marie Eugenie taught and stood for. I hold on to that.

I had the great privilege to play the role of St. Marie Eugenie in the musical about her life in 1998. That helped me get into her soul. The final song of the musicale said it all: ”I believe in Education”. She and I are one.