Once a teacher, always a teacher!
As a teacher, I have always believed the right education is what makes a person. Filipinos know the value of education very well, and it is the hope of every Filipino parent for their children to get the best education possible. We have always put great value on having higher education, and wherever we go, we know there will be great Filipino teachers.
Here in BC, it is a journey to be certified as a teacher, with all the bureaucracy that one has to go through, but in the end of the struggle, the rewards are well-deserved. Among the number of teachers in both the public and independent systems, Filipino educators are known to be the most nurturing and caring, and their Philippine training always pays off. Carmelita Yamzon has worked in the public school system, and has loved it from day one.
Melite was born and raised in Angeles City, Pampanga. Her first taste of education was part time kindergarten and fulltime grade 1 teacher at a public school where my mother was a teacher. After graduating from Holy Angel University, she was challenged to take up Engineering and finished Industrial Management Engineering, got married and took Master of Science in Mathematics at Angeles University.
“I used to be a stay at home mom, with my husband having a stable job in Clark Air base,” Melite shares. Due to the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in Pampanga in June, 1991, all the military facilities of the Americans were shut down and she started teaching at Republic Central Colleges.
Canada came calling when there was a need for medical workers like nurses, pharmacist, etc. and her husband Joy who was the head of Engineering and I.T. at Angeles University Medical Center, decided to apply, and we got approved without being interviewed. Thus, in April 2002, she and her husband, 2 daughters aged 17 and 11, and twin sons of 14 years, boarded the plane to go to Canada.
Like all immigrants from the Philippines, finding jobs when you’re a newcomer to Canada was the main struggle for the Yamzons. Melite’s first job was as a cashier, and she recalls when she did not know what a nickel and dime were.
“The customers were yelling when there was a long line up or they couldn’t find what they were looking for,” she relates as she laughs at her experience. After that, she went into cleaning houses a few times and worked in a pita bread factory as well. Her husband was an unloader/stocker for groceries where she worked.
Then, in their fourth month in Canada, her husband was diagnosed with leukemia. He responded well to chemotherapy and did not need a bone marrow transplant.
Her journey to becoming a teacher in Canada was not easy. She was hired by the Catholic School Board to be on their list and was grateful that her credentials were recognized by way of experience and education. She wanted to be in the public schools to be with her growing children and she decided to take the Professional Development Program at Simon Fraser University and from there, was hired by the Surrey School District and has been working there for 17 years.
She tells the newly arrived kababayans to aspire to better themselves, and try to find work in their profession they had in the Philippines.
“It might not be easy to be recertified in Canada, but we know that Filipinos have a wealth of knowledge and experience that Canada can take advantage of,” she says.
In her 17 years in the Surrey schools, she has always opened her classroom doors to students not only to Filipinos, but some cultures as well. This gives them a sense of community, a place where they belong, a teacher or second mother/ “nanay” to talk to.
“I encourage them to do well in school, tutor them with schoolwork, and organize potluck Christmas parties and year end parties. These parties bring back memories of their schooling in the Philippines and bring a lot of joy to them. If my services are needed for the Filipino kids, I translate report cards from the Philippines and talk to the parents/ relatives as needed,” Melite shares.
To date, Melite has seen former Filipino students who are now professionals.
“I have a student who is now a teacher, a student who is in the aviation industry, an accountant, managers in restaurants and other businesses,” she says. Seeing them successful gives her great pride and as a teacher, she feels that she was a part of their journey.
“I try to be an inspiration if not a role model for them. I always tell them and all my students that ‘Patience, perseverance pays off!’ I also tell them to always look at the positive side of things and trust God always!”
Spoken like a true guro.
