Jungolfer donates prize to Zambo victims

MANILA, Philippines - A 13-year-old junior golfer who recently hit her sixth hole-in-one has donated part of her P5,000 cash prize to Christian and Muslim schoolchildren in Zamboanga City who lost their books and school supplies during the siege by a Muslim rebel group in September last year.

Ashia Marie Nocum, who is born of Chris- tian and Muslim parents, donated P4,000 of her prize money to the P18,000 put up by her family to finance the shipment of 68 boxes of donated books, textbooks, and used computers to Zamboanga City Saturday morning.

Nocum aced hole no. 4 in Capitol Hills Golf and Country Club in Quezon City last Dec. 28 and was awarded P5,000 in cash and guest playing vouchers. Nocum gave P1,000 to the caddies who witnessed the ace.

“It was a lucky shot. I never expected to make it. Having five aces is already too much and I never imagined making another one in my lifetime. I am sharing this unexpected gift from God to children who were not as lucky,” said Nocum, a Grade 9 student at Miriam Col- lege in Quezon City.

The Nocum family runs the Kristiyano-Is- lam Peace Library which has built six libraries in conflict areas in Mindanao and Luzon, and distributed hundreds of thousands of books to schools and school supplies to thousands of children. Helped by donors all over the world, Kris Library also finances the schooling of more than 200 scholars.

Last year, Ashia joined parents Armand and Annora – a Christian and a Muslim, respectively – siblings Arizza and Arno, and Kris Li- brary scholars and volunteers in distributing food, school supplies, and books to hundreds of Muslims and Christians victimized by the siege of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Zamboanga City.

Nocum hit her first ace at six years old dur- ing the practice round of the July 2007 Calla- way Junior World Golf Championships in Colina Golf Park Course in San Diego, California.

Nocum landed fifth in the world tournament.

The second and third aces happened dur- ing the Champions for the Future golf tourna- ments at the Riviera Golf and Country Club in February and March 2008.

After a three-year hiatus from competitive golf, Nocum returned to the game and made her fifth hole-in-one at the Junior Golf Asso- ciation of the Philippines’ tournament at the Valley Golf and Country Club in Antipolo on Aug. 26, 2012.

Although now Quezon City-based, Nocum also represents Zamboanga City and Muslim Mindanao where her parents come from.

The books are to be distributed to schools that were burned down during the Zambo- anga siege, as well as to schoolchildren who lost everything during the fires that engulfed a great part of the city during the siege. Many victims continue to live in evacuation centers for fear of reprisal by the MNLF.