Tayo ang lahing kayang ngumiti sa kabila ng pinagdadaanan, walang pagsubok na hindi kayang lampasan

4 years ago, I was given the great honor to speak in "Museo delle Culture" in Milan on behalf of our fellow Filipinos here in Italy...

Tandang-tanda ko pa ang pakiramdam ko bago ako tinawag upang magsalita... halos parang lalabas na ang puso ko sa aking dibdib sa sobrang tibok, sa sobrang kaba... nanginginig ang mga tuhod ko at pakiramdam ko'y hindi ko na kayang makalakad papunta sa stage... gusto ko nang mag walk-out... I was having an "anxiety attack"...

Pero sabi ko sa sarili ko, kung hindi ko ito gagawin ay paano KAMI maririnig? Paano nila malalaman ang aming nararamdaman? Paano nila maiintindihan ang aming pinagdadaanan? Paano namin maipapaabot ang aming mensahe?

Kaya kahit nanginginig ang aking buong kalamnan ay pinilit kong tumayo, maglakad at humarap sa daang tao na nakaabang sa kung ano ang aking sasabihin. Narito ang actual video ng speech:

Click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA84M25FxGU

Para sa mga nais mabasa ito sa english, narito ang ang original written version:

Goodafternoon to everyone!

First of all, I would like to thank Donatella Ferrario for giving me this chance to speak for my fellow Filipinos and also, together with her colleague,..., for making the book "Milano Multietnica" happen. I would like to honor the presence of Vice Mayor... all the other people people who contributed to this project and to all the people present here.

Let me start with a story I have experienced at work. A colleague told me: "Elly, a client was looking for you before but you weren't here yet. He told me, 'where is the Filipina?, I'd like to talk to her'... My colleague continued "I got offended and I told him not to call you Filipina because you have a name". At first I didn't understand... Why did she get offended? I asked her and she replied, "oh maybe you don't know but "Filipina", as a word, is intended as COLF/caregiver by many"... I laughed and just told her, "no, the next time it happens, let them call me Filipina, don't you worry, I don't actually mind what other people think of that word, I am proud to be a Filipina and what I really feel inside... That, for me, is more important!"

But honestly, it dawned on me... A very important word which is part of my being is being misused, abused and disrespected and it hurt!

But then, I thought, I shouldn't be hurt but rather be proud... Why do Filipinos are known of being great COLF/caregiver in this country and maybe in the world... These jobs are not easy! The truth is many Filipinos become COLF or caregiver without having any experience before, some are even professionals in our country (doctors, dentists, teachers)... I realized that these jobs are being done very well by us because we have the resources necessary to do them the best way... So what does it take to be a great COLF/badante?

It takes a lot but I believe that the 3 great resources that we have are:

1. Faith: we strongly believe that God is always there, nomatterwhat. Most especially when we are in difficult times, our faith keeps us strong...in the midst of storms, earthquakes and desperate moments, we can still manage to smile and move on... Why? Because most of us are equipped with a great Faith!

2. Selflessness: service is the espression of love for most of us. We give our all to others... To our job, our employers, our family, our friends, our community.

3. Humility: "yabang" is a big word for us, we have been taught to keep our feet on the ground. We rarely boast on our achievements and prefer to give way to others.

But sometimes, these same beautiful traits which are our strengths can also become our weaknesses:

-too much faith sometimes lead to lack of aggressiveness to reach our dreams;

-too much selflessness might lead to lack of self-love and

-too much humility sometimes rob our self-esteem.

This is the reason why MAIA is born. I am the president. I lead a group of young Filipino leaders that aims to empower the strengths of the Filipinos so that our community could be able to integrate better in the society.

We offer english and italian language courses, music and dance... but not only, we don't only aim to give knowledge but also, wisdom, character building and self-development.

We use maximize our strengths by promoting:

1. Faith: the open faith that does not judge... Faith that is couple with actions and also, determination to reaching one's dreams.

If there is faith, there is always hope... There is love, there is peace.

2. Selflessness: we promote servant leadership... The service that genuinely aims to help others first and not only for money, power or fame. We also encourage the love for oneself.

3. Humility: we develop humble heart but with confidence and a strong-will to fight for one's rights

For now, our students are composed of not only Filipinos but also by some Italians, south american and african. In two-year-life of our association, I could say that we are making it to the better integration of our fellow Filipinos.

The title of the book, "Milano Multietnica" for me is a great symbol of integration, an acceptance and celebration of our differences, without any judgement... Knowing that we are all different and unique is wonderful.... We acknowledge that we have things that others don't have and vice versa... And thanks to these differences, the world is a beautiful place because we are meant to compensate each others' need. No man is an island.

On the other hand, to the people who still don't accept this... I fully understand! I strongly believe that ignorance is one of the biggest disease in the world... I was once affected by it, when my first born child was born with down syndrome, I wanted to die... I got depressed for a year... But not because my child was not okay, it was because of my ignorance, I didn't know that having a child with DS is okay, now she is turning 6 years old and she's very healthy, independent and intelligent. I judged because I didn't know. I got hurt because I didn't know. I hurt my child by not wanting her at first because I didn't know...

And I guess, some people judge because they don't know, they hurt because they don't know... They get hurt because they don't know. We must inform them!

This is what MAIA could do to contribute in the betterment of the society, our aim is to beat ignorance, to contribute on giving more knowledge and wisdom. One must know in order to understand.

We might not see each other again or maybe you won't remember everything I've said but I pray that the next time you see a Filipino outside, I hope you don't see that "usual COLF or badante" anymore, I hope you get reminded of the faith, selflessness and humility that our community could offer to make this society a better place... And please be generous, don't keep it to yourself, spread the word, spread the good news... It's our responsibility to which we must all commit to if we really want to have a better place to live in.

Thank you and may God bless you!

***Special thanks to Spire Media of Philip John Monsanto and Ian De Borja; to Diane Del Rio for helping me translate the speech from English to Italian; to Donatella Ferrario e e Fabrizio Pesoli of the book Milano Multietnica; to Jay Retuta of Cleopa, our great partner to educating the youth; to my family and most especially to the support of my all-time favorite partner in all aspects, Jayson Castillo.

Lagi nating tandaan na ipagmalaki ang ating lahi... we are world-class citizens! Tayo ang lahing kayang ngumiti sa kabila ng pinagdadaanan... Walang pagsubok na hindi natin kayang lampasan.

Always remember, "There is a BiyaHero in you!"

- Biyahero Elly