I grew up in a tiny bamboo hut where I slept on the floor and used a communal shower... now I live in luxury

Daily Mail​

6 days ago

A woman who grew up in a tiny bamboo hut in the Philippines where six people shared a room and slept on mattresses on the floor has laid bare the grim realities of her childhood.
Maeurn Smiles, 25, hails from the island of Cebu, a province of the Philippines, where her family struggled to make ends meet.
She resided in a small shack that consisted of just one large room and had no kitchen or bathroom and rarely had electricity.
She often 'went hungry' and was forced to look after her younger siblings when she was only eight years old while her parents worked long hours.
After years of struggling and longing for a better life, she began selling saucy photos of herself at age 21 and now rakes in thousands a month through the endeavor - but she's using her earnings to help stop other kids from going through something similar.
While speaking exclusively with the Daily Mail about it, she said of her childhood: 'We had no money.
'All of us would sleep together, packed like sardines. There were no rooms at all. It was just one open space where we all slept side by side.'
She said her mom worked as a maid, cleaning houses for wealthy families in the village, while her dad was a construction driver.
She explained that they rarely had electricity - it depended on whether or not they could afford it - and there were 'no proper beds.'
'We slept on thin mattresses on the floor, but we made it work,' she continued.
They cooked on an open fire outside and showered in a communal washing area 'with their clothes on.'
There was also no toilet in the house which meant they had to use public bathrooms.
'We cooked using an open fire outside. We didn't have a stove or oven, so everything was very traditional and manual,' shared Maeurn.
'We showered outside with our clothes on - Filipino style. As for toilets, we didn't have one inside the house.'
They lived off noodles and rice, but 'if they were lucky' they'd sometimes get 'fish, chicken, or sardines from a can.' However some days, they 'went hungry.'
She dished, 'Corned beef was a treat. For breakfast, we'd have rice with Milo, it felt fancy to me as a kid.
'But there were times when we didn't even have rice. We were very poor, and most of our money went straight to food. If there wasn't enough, we simply went without.'
She spent her days watching over her younger siblings before she got her first job when she was only a teen teaching ESL lessons.
But Maeurn insisted that she was not unhappy during her childhood despite the harsh living conditions.
'It brought us closer. It turned out to be a lot of fun,' she reflected.
Maeurn now rakes in thousands a month through OnlyFans, and her new lifestyle is a far cry from her childhood struggles.
She is now building her own school in the Philippines so that other kids won't be in the same situation she was.
'I promised myself that any success I found online would flow back to kids who feel stuck where I once was,' Maeurn, who has 3.7 million followers on Instagram, said.
'A supercar depreciates, but a student's mind compounds. If I'd had this opportunity growing up, I probably would have pursued medicine or engineering.
'I loved science, but our rural school only had one broken microscope and no lab sessions.'
Despite facing backlash by some for her online career, Maeurn says she's proud to be proving that the creator economy can drive real-world change.
In response to those who may judge her for selling sultry images, she clapped back: 'Some people will never respect how I earn my money, but I don't care what they think.
'They shouldn't care how I get the money – just how I use it. I know I'm using my platform for good, and that's all that matters.
'Education saved me and gave me new prospects, and that's exactly what I want to do for other young people.'
Construction on the school - called Edmundo Tolentino Memorial National High School, after her late father - is already underway.
The first phase includes three classrooms, a library, and a science and cooking center – a unique feature, Maeurn said, that will help kids gain practical life skills alongside academics.
She said of her journey: 'At 18, I was teaching English to Chinese students with no degree, just determination.
'I came from a poor family, but through OnlyFans and my other platforms, I was able to build something for myself.'
Maeurn hopes the school will eventually serve over 300 students, many of whom currently walk miles every day just to attend classes.
She has bigger plans too – including a dormitory for girls who live too far away and a scholarship fund to help the brightest pupils go on to study STEM subjects at top universities.
But her ultimate goal is to build a whole network of creator-backed institutions across Southeast Asia.
'If the result is children studying under proper lights instead of by candlelight, then all the challenges are worth it,' she added.
'Every classroom we finish and every student who walks through those doors brings real change – not just for them, but for the whole community.
'This school isn't just a building; it's an investment in education that will make a difference for years to come.'