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From struggling to juggling

11/17/2007

Born to a family struggling to survive fate’s cruel whips, Elvira Silla in her young years made up her mind to finish her studies, no matter what it took. With a father disabled by asthma, however, and a mother earning only so much from selling kakanin (rice cakes), she was acutely aware it would be a battle between determination and harsh reality.

With all the chips down, this devout Catholic held onto her faith. And like angels sent from heaven, the good people in Punlaan School helped her to become one of the globally competitive members of the service industry. The International Bazaar Foundation, Inc., which sponsors a number of students to Punlaan, chose Silla to be one of their fortunate scholars.

From a kakanin vendor to a barmaid in Hotel Rembrandt, to a team leader in the Hyatt Hotel and Casino and finally boarding a luxury liner, her metamorphosis in the food and beverage industry was akin to scaling steep mountains to reach the top. “This was because of the good training here in Punlaan and because of the wondrous hand of God working through the IBF,” Silla recounted. “I was able to lift myself and my family from dire straits to a secure and stable place.”

Other than annually sponsoring scholars, IBF gave Punlaan kitchen equipment necessary for their major subjects. Alternating in-school with on-the job training in partner hotels and restaurants, the school produces world-class Filipina workers in the food and beverages services industry.

Punlaan School’s chief executive officer Luz Filmer owes the institution’s hundred percent employment rate after every graduation to their “comprehensive training and one-on-one tutorial sessions in work skills, personality development, and general culture. The ladies here are absorbed by the hotels and restaurants where they took their practicum, right after graduation.”

Paying it forward, Silla eschewed her high-paying job at the Hyatt Hotel and Casino in exchange for a teaching job in Punlaan. Filled with a strong sense of mission, she said, “I believe my experiences can help my students when they face the real world.”

Also hoping to guide the youth through teaching is another IBF scholar, Nicola Gatus, an excellent student and award-winning debater from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. When IBF opened its doors to students in need, Gatus was rewarded with the opportunity to save her family from crisis.

Gatus recompensed her father’s low-paying but hard-earned income by studying hard and getting good grades, while impressing everyone with her debating prowess.

Through IBF’s education committee, a total of 40 excellent scholars for the school year 2006-2007 realized their dreams to finish college and move into a career.

To support their projects, the IBF holds an annual International Bazaar, to which Manila’s 400 and the expatriate community flock. “It is our dream to alleviate suffering and misery by improving the living conditions of the poor. I am glad that I am at the forefront of making this dream a reality,” says Rosie Lovely Romulo, the IBF over-all chairperson.

Now on its 41st year, the event is an undertaking of the International Bazaar Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the Spouses of the Heads of Mission, and members of the Consular Corps in the Philippines. It will showcase global products from 43 countries and the Philippines, all under one roof.

The much-awaited annual event will be held at the Philippine International Convention Center Forums I, II, III, on Nov. 25, Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Entrance and raffle tickets are available at National Bookstore branches in Glorietta, Greenbelt, Ayala Alabang, Rockwell, Market Market, Harrison Plaza, Shangri-La Mall and Katipunan. For more information, call the IBF Secretariat telephone numbers 834-3036 and 834-3054.