Category Archives: Canada

My Soroptimist Speech

March 30 3:26 pm ,
Little fall of rain

Little fall of rain

I just came home from the Philippines when I got the email. “Congratulations,” it said. “You have been selected as a winner of the Soroptimist International of North and West Vancouver’s Ruth Ditto award.” I was awed, and rendered speechless. Soroptimist International is a worldwide service organization for women committed to helping women (and girls) achieve their individual and collective potentials. The Ruth Ditto Award is an award unique to the North and West Vancouver Club. Ruth Ditto is an esteemed and treasured Club member and everyone remembers her for her strength (despite the fact that she was a petite woman), and remembers how unselfishly she shared her talents (she is a painter too) and her time. The award is to honour women who persevere despite challenges (in my essay, I spoke of the travails of being a new immigrant with big dreams). With all of Ruth Ditto’s friends in attendance, I felt empowered, humbled, honoured. Below is my speech.

Somebody looked at my palm to gaze into my future. He smiled but did not tell me what he saw.

I prefer it that way. Not knowing. Because it is enough that I know that my husband and I, we always put ourselves in, well, situations.

In December 2011, we found ourselves in the clutches of winter in beautiful Vancouver.

We were starting a new life, embarking on an adventure.

Until the adventure turned real and the difficulty of finding a foothold in a new country we did not know sank in.

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Posted in: Canada, Life Stories , Tagged: ,

Human Trafficking: the Canadian Perspective

February 5 1:09 pm ,

Modern Day Slavery

The UPAABC held a seminar on human trafficking with some community partners including the UBC Philippine Studies Series and the Liu Institute for Global Issues. The following is an article about the seminar that appeared in the Philippine Canadian Inquirer, another partner.

Human trafficking, sometimes called modern-day slavery, is the stuff a nightmare is made of. The most vulnerable – women and children – are taken from their homes, from their lives, from everything they know, against their will, to live in the underbelly of society, doing unspeakable things and having unspeakable things done to them. It is happening everywhere. It is happening in Canada

Both the destination and transit point for human trafficking, approximately 1,200 persons are trafficked to (and through) Canada each year. Authorities say, however, that the real number could be as high as 16,000.

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Posted in: Canada , Tagged: , , ,

Have wings, will fly

January 24 3:12 pm ,

Grow

 

The following is an excerpt (albeit revised) of a speech I gave during the Academic Conference held by the University of British Columbia Filipino Students Association (UBC-FSA).

You are starting the rest of your life. It’s wonderful, but you are probably thinking you are not allowed to make a mistake in choosing your path. It is, after all, expensive.

But please know that loneliness and dissatisfaction are more expensive, not to mention damaging. So what I want to tell you is that we are given many chances, and allowed many starts. We can – in fact – be anything and everything we want. Our paths are not straight but meandering, allowing for that detour which would make us realize our fullest potentials. There may be in fact not just one path, but many paths, and many different sort of happiness and fulfillment.

To show you the truth of that, let me tell you about the stories of many Filipinos here in Canada.

 

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Posted in: Canada

What is your why?

July 16 2:23 pm ,

Getting to the why

I attended the 3-day seminar of the Rich Dad Academy in Vancouver and learned a lot. This is what I love about seminars – and why I keep going to them – I get insights and learn new ways – more effective ways – of doing things. In the next few days, I will be sharing them with you and I hope your lives will be enriched too.

Some of us plod along this world not knowing what we are here for. We walk our paths, fall into our usual pattern, surprise ourselves some of the time, and when the excitement dies, wonder why we still have that big hole in our chest. The answer is not within, but without – that is, outside of us.

Who do you live for? What do you live for?

Is it your children or your family? (but please do not have that reason just because every other person says it should be so)

Do you dream of making it big? (does it get you awake nights, to plot, to plan, to see in your mind’s eye how that could be)

Is it money – a lot of money – so you can make a difference in your life and in the world? (have you seen need, have you felt need, do you want to erase it from yourself, your memory, the world)

Is it recognition? Is it acceptance? (what happened in your early life that made this matter in your now)

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Posted in: Canada, Life Stories, Wealth Attraction , Tagged: , ,

For new immigrants: How to maintain a good credit score in Canada or elsewhere

May 30 4:33 pm ,

Stopping the rain from falling

My friend does not understand.

If she wants a good credit standing in Canada, she must not shop around for good deals. But if she does not shop around for good deals, how can she be sure she will get the best value for her dollars? And why do the good deals need to look into her credit – which lowers her credit score – before they say she is good for them too?

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Posted in: Canada, Financial Education , Tagged: , , , , , , ,

11 Ways to save money at the movies

May 16 12:45 pm ,

To lose one's self

The movies can break the bank.

It never used to. At least where I was from, movies can be had for, say, less than $5. So we would watch every week, and sometimes, we would watch a movie twice. And so I was surprised to find that it is a luxury (at $12.50!) in Canada, a first world – and that’s even without popcorn! Or maybe I am just a new immigrant and still doing my maths and my conversions in my head.

And so this guest post by Andrea Woroch appealed to me. Hope it gets you your movie fix too, at half the price.

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Posted in: Canada, The Basics of Finance , Tagged: , ,

Why stay?

April 14 3:38 pm ,

You are meant to be here

A chance encounter.

I talked to someone today and was surprised to find out she is a lawyer in Germany. But like most professionals in Canada, who face the bar of credential recognition and what it stands for – further studies, time and expense – she thinks she will never get to practice her profession here.

She may be right.

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Posted in: Canada, Life Stories , Tagged: , , ,

Time to Write

April 2 12:51 pm ,

One of many inspirations to write: A cry - our land is sacred

 

I thought Canada would give me more time to write.

It did.  But not doing anything – and actually being able to write – if prolonged – may be a scary reality for a new immigrant.

Canada affords one many pleasures, like exploration of its many parks and walkways, or the comfort of its libraries where one can read and browse at his own leisure, or the contemplation of an oak tree losing all its leaves in winter, or of the snow, dainty and pristine, falling in all its innocence when the warm winds has failed to turn its specks into rain.

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