Ex-FDH is now a teacher

MY name is Remedios Vinluan Bato, a former OFW here in Hong Kong. I worked here for almost 22 years, from March 1991 to November 2012.

I have worked with five different families and I could say I am fortunate because they were all good employers to me. My stay with the last family that I worked with lasted for 12 years.

The whole family cared a lot about me and, up till this time, they still let me feel their love, care, and concern. In fact, I am here in Hong Kong for a vacation. My former employer sent me a ticket so I can come to visit them.

On Christmas and during my birthdays, I always received something from them. The amount is not that big but still I feel grateful because, even if I am not working here anymore, they still remember me.

It was not easy for me to leave this family. They were so good and people like them are rare in Hong Kong.

It was last November 2012 when I made one of the most difficult decisions in my life. I had a lot of what if’s in my mind. Why? Because I was going to give up my work here to practice my profession in the Philippines as a teacher.

When I came here way back 1991, I was not a teacher yet. But I am a college graduate though. I finished Bachelor of Science in Commerce, major in accounting. Since I got married when I was about to enroll my fourth year in college, and had my eldest who happened to be twins a few months after, finding a job was not easy for me.

In other words, I was one of those holding a diploma who couldn’t land a job.

Life was not easy, especially when after a year of giving birth to my twins, I had my second pregnancy. Life became much harder then.

That is why, when my kids started going to school, I decided to work abroad with the dream of having my kids finish college. But that didn’t happen. None of my three boys graduated from college. I felt so disappointed. I have a daughter whom I conceived when I took my vacation in 1995.She is now a third year pharmacy student at SLU. Hopefully, she will graduate next year.

In 2004, there was the “Balik-Turo” program launched by the government where teachers working abroad were encouraged to avail for the items given by the government so they can go home and teach.

God knows how I wished I was a teacher that time so I can avail of such an opportunity so that I can go home for good with a job waiting for me. But I could.

Nevertheless, I told myself I can be one if I wanted to. So, when I read the advertisement inviting college graduates who are non-education graduates to enroll in 18 education units in order to qualify to take the Licensure Examination for Teachers, I grabbed the opportunity.

I enrolled nine units at a time and, when I have finally completed the required units, I took the LET in 2005. Luckily, I was one of the more than 15,000 who passed among the 50,000 plus examinees who took the said examination.

I immediately tried to inquire about the Balik-Turo Program but I was not able to avail an item. I even wrote an open letter to the then President Arroyo and sent an email to the DepEd Secretary but they asked me to apply in the Philippines.

It was not easy. I was working here and, in order for me to apply, I had to go home and submit all the necessary documents. I also had to undergo an interview and do the demo.

It was not convenient. That is why it still took me years before I finally submitted my application letter. Luckily, my employer was very supportive. She let me go home so I can do what I was supposed to do.

I started submitting my application in 2008 and, although I was in rank 1, I was not employed at once. It took me at least four years before I was finally hired as permanent teacher.

Being a teacher is not easy, especially nowadays. The learners of yesterday are much, much more disciplined and more focused.

Maybe it is because we didn’t have many distractions then. If you would ask me which is easier—to work as a domestic helper or to work as a teacher—well, based on my experience, working here is much easier.

So, the bottom line of this, fellow Filipinos, is plan your life. Don’t be contented of what you are now. I passed the LET when I was 43 years old. I was employed as a permanent teacher at 50. I am now 52 and proud to say that I am enjoying my profession as a teacher because, for me, nothing is greater than to touch young learners’ lives.