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I was two years old when my parents came from the Philippines wanting to give me a better life. Now in my 40s, I return to the Philippines to give some of it back.
I graduated from UBC as a teacher in the mid-90s and spent my first year teaching street children in Zimbabwe, Africa.
After that experience, I was completely hooked on helping others in the less fortunate areas. Many trips followed over the course of 20 years: Guatemala, the Philippines, Vietnam, and then back to Guatemala five more times.
When I was in university, I was unsure of my future, so I let God lead the way. After university, he presented a gift to me: teaching. I immediately loved it and within five years, I was honoured with an Outstanding Math Teacher award in B.C.
My journey has taken wonderful turns since then; I have worn several hats – as a teacher, a business lecturer, founder of the financial planning firm Latitude West Financial, and a team leader of various volunteer projects in San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala.
But with a family, a career, and responsibilities, I could no longer take long trips away from my family. Yet God still had plans for me: he blessed me with the gift of organizing. I had organized students and business teams in the past, and now I would organize volunteer teams to work overseas.
After I realized this, I began recruiting volunteers (teachers, engineers, dentists, etc.) and university students to work on short-term projects in Guatemala. The majority of them worked on already established projects: building homes, working with orphans, and assisting medical teams for example.
I would train them in Canada, help them set up in Guatemala, and then I’d return home while they stayed to volunteer. This allowed the volunteers to get a full experience overseas, the projects had numerous helping hands, and I was not away from my family or business for too long.
In the summer of 2019, I was planning my sixth trip back to Guatemala when God intervened. Schedules, my new team, and many other things just were not aligning to make the trip a reality. Instead of making something work that clearly was not right, I felt God nudging me toward something else. Once again, I listened.
Father Boyet Conception, a priest I volunteered with 20 years ago in the Philippines, invited me back to the country of my birth to serve. I was unsure what projects I would be involved with, but felt this was where I was meant to be.
I recruited a small team of volunteers including an engineer and two soon-to-be teachers. My team stayed for a month, and we soon realized the tremendous difference we could make in the lives of children at Ephesus House, a home for sexually abused girls, and St. Martin De Porres, a school for abandoned children.
The girls at Ephesus are aged from 6 to 20 years old. The home is run by Mario, a caring man who felt the Lord calling years ago when he retired. It is a loving, safe place with no formal funding aside from a few sewing projects that generate a small income. The girls go to school locally and all support each other, but their confidence is very low.
There is great need. Mario tries to hire an abuse psychologist for the girls to help them heal from past trauma, but the cost can be trumped by the cost of food for that month, or by repairs of a leaking roof.
The Ephesus girls also have a great need for educational support in their studies. The head organizer can only support the educational learning of 30 girls, and they lack exposure to many outstanding male and female role models to help them build confidence and learn to trust adults.
Since having three daughters of my own, I hold a special place in my heart for the girls of Ephesus. They have gone through a horrific experience in a country that cannot support their recovery, but still they have the grace to carry on. They are my little warriors.
St. Martin De Porres is a school and home for children whose parents either abandoned them, were imprisoned, or abused them. The nuns and priests who run the school described to me what the kids were like when they first met them. Imagine a 7-year-old rummaging through garbage for food, begging for money, and living on the streets with younger siblings.
Street children have many issues both physically and mentally, but at St. Martin, they look like average kids: clean, healthy, and well fed. These children are not up for adoption; there are more than enough orphanages in the Philippines to choose from for people who which to adopt. The children at St. Martin love their home.
My team lived with them and gave math and English lessons. Our challenges were many. In Canada, teaching teenagers, even support and a loving family, can be a challenge. We were teaching a school of kids with no parents, a history of abuse, and significant gaps in prior education if they had any at all. There were no parents or tutors to help them with their homework after class. It reminded me of my early trip to Africa, teaching street kids. I asked God again, “How can I help?”
My epiphany came while playing basketball and soccer with the students. They all loved the extra-curricular activities, much like children in Canada.
I asked one of the sisters to tell me about the most successful volunteer at the school in the past. She described a seminarian from Spain.
“Why was he so successful?” I asked.
“He taught them soccer,” she replied.
It wasn’t just six months of soccer games that led to success for his students. The seminarian, like a dedicated coach, ran drills and practices, and through sports taught the children routine, discipline, and most importantly, confidence.
This is when God reminded me of my gift of innovation. I had started my own financial company, so I should be able to use the same skills in the Philippines. We started leading extra-curricular activities, including ballet and hip hop dancing.
My next trip to the Philippines is now being planned. The challenges are great, but God will provide. Whether they be people, resources, or innovative ideas, I have faith that the help will come. When we feel the problems of the world are too great, I am reminded of St. Mother Teresa’s words: “Not all of us can do great things. But we can all do small things with great love.”
Christian Dy is a financial planner and a member of Christ the Redeemer Parish in West Vancouver. He is looking for short- and long-term volunteers, donations including of sports equipment and sewing machines, and funds to support mission projects in the Philippines. He can be reached at info@latitude-west.ca.
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