Archive for the Category »General «

29
Jan
4 Year’s Old Milestone
filipinamom


This month my son turned 4 years old and it went smoothly. We usually hold a party because he happens to share the same birthday with her aunt, my youngest sister either on our place or down her aunt’s who used to live just below us. But now my sister had move out and I was busy preparing for my school exam so I though it will just be quiet and simple just the three of us my husband, me and the birthday boy.

I just bought 50 different fruits for the kindergarten for 30 adults and children and the teachers thanked me because it was healthy and keep the young ones calm unlike the usual ice cream and cakes that the parents brought when somebody celebrates birthday at the kindergarten.The day started smoothly upon seeing his name and the flag besides it he knows it his day lucky he was the only celebrant that day. The boy was so happy with the attention where they sang a lot of birthday song and received a little book and a monkey, a noisy monkey.

At home we continue the celebration by buying an ice cream cake so he can blow 4 candles and gave him a garbage truck which he loves.

my son on his 4 yr. old birthday

It seems like yesterday that he was so dependent of me but now he has his own mine and he can beat me to some games in the computer, yes he has his own laptop to and he knows how to use it but he’s only limited to games like on Disney and other preschool  programs on the web.

Now let me see his development based on the Great School Org

Milestones: 4-Year-Olds

A. Motor Development: Gross Motor Skills:

* running is more controlled; can start, stop, and turn
* turns somersaults; hops on one foot; gallops
* can easily catch, throw, and bounce a ball
*can brush teeth, comb hair, wash, and dress with little assistance

He can all everything except the dentist suggest that adult should brush his teeth until he old enough to brush his teeth properly.

B. Motor Development: Fine Motor Skills

* copies crosses and squares
* prints some letters
* uses table utensils skillfully
* cuts on a line

He was once good in using table utensils when he was 2.5 years old but since he started in the kindergarten he is a little backwards he don’t like using knife and fork maybe because he left-handed so kind of confusing.We will see to it that he should use the table utensils more often.

Language and Thinking Development

* uses a 1,500-word vocabulary; speaks in relatively complex sentences (“Mommy opened the door and the dog ran out.”)
* understands words that relate one idea to another — if, why, when
* continues to learn through experience and the senses
* understands, mostly, the difference between fantasy and reality
* understands number and space concepts — more, less, bigger, in, under, behind
* thinks literally; starting to develop logical thinking
* begins to grasp that pictures and symbols can represent real objects
* starts to recognize patterns among objects — round things, soft things, animals
* grasps the concepts of past, present, and future but does not understand the duration of time

In this area he’s advanced than most children in his age because by 1 1/2 years old he knows all the colors, he can count, can tell the difference between big and little and can even sing several nursery rhymes. By 2 years old he can recite and read the Danish alphabet and numbers up to 50, can recognized patterns and forms.names of animals and his vocabulary was really amazing. So when started in the kindergarten at 2 & 7 months he was actually like a 4 yr old except the last one; grasp of the concepts of time. Now that he’s 4 he can memorize telephone numbers and some common words he often reads  and master the remote control which even I sometimes forgets. He can say the days and the tomorrow and the future and when I say you only have 10 minutes he will say no 100 minutes. Amazing

Social and Emotional Development

* takes turns, shares, and cooperates
* expresses anger verbally rather than physically
* can feel jealousy
* may sometimes lie to protect herself, but understands the concept of lying
* enjoys pretending and has a vivid imagination

Socially compared to his peers he’s just needs more help because he can sometimes too dominating like he knows everything although he plays with other children but the concept of playing like fighting he’s still a baby he don’t like it. But I’ve seen him in the parlor games and he acts normal and enjoyed being playing with other kids outside his circles.

According to the About.com

As the parent of a 4-year-old, you should:

* Encourage and provide the necessary space for physical activity
* Instruct the child on how to participate in, and follow the rules of sporting activities
* Encourage play and sharing with other children
* Encourage creative play
* Teach children to do small chores, such as setting the table
* Read together
* Monitor both the time and content of television viewing (preferably less than 1.5 hours of TV, no more than 3 hours maximum)
* Expose the child to different stimuli by visiting local areas of interest

We are guilty of letting him watch too much TV sometimes more than 3 hours when he’s home and now his computer which sometime he spends 2 hours. Although he watches program and play games for his age it’s not good for eyes so we  should limit it max 3 hours for both TV and computer. He already helping me set the table and small errands and he loves it. We love going out to the park but we should encourage or invite friends for overnight to encourage him to learn to share his toys and share his territory.

He can talk like a TV journalist and very observant and one time he asked me while ” Why the girls sits when they use the toilet while the boys just stands” and lot of questions and when I don’t know the answer I say “because it does,” that’s what he always answer whenever I ask him something although it more funny in Danish.

I will congratulate my self as a mother and as a parent as I together with my husband is able to meet the challenges of raising a super active boy without any problem considering he is our first and hope not the last.

And nobody is prouder when he always say “Jeg elsker dig Mor og Du er det bedste i hele verden” I love you and you are the best in the whole world.

And we love you also. You are the best thing that ever happen to us.

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Category: General, Milestones, Parenting  Tags: , , ,  11 Comments
03
Jan
Thank you for the old and Happy New Year 2010
filipinamom

In Danish we greet everybody with “Tak for the gamle and Godt nyt år” meaning we give thanks for the past year what ever it brought us pain and happiness and at the same time welcoming and wishing a Good year ahead.

Personally the year 2009 will forever etched in my memory as it had brought me pain and triumph at the same time. It was the year my father passed away which until now still hurts and can’t believe that he was gone. We spent the Christmas together as a family last Christmas 2008 after 27 years and he was full of life and so brave to go through all those operations but all of us know that it was too risky and that parting where he cried and ran after me will haunt me for the rest of my life.

My countrymen were also hit by 2 typhoons in a less than a month which leaves thousand of families homeless. My hometown is used to floods ever since I can remember we always had to move in the second floor of our house. But this time just after just one year after the strong winds of typhoon Frank which left our family house and most of the houses in my village without a roof, the recent typhoon Peping brought massive rains which suddenly left our house submerged in flood. Luckily no one was hurt and it was like nothing ever happened when you look at the pictures after they cleaned the house  but we lost a lot of  old pictures, memories of our childhood which  but it always remains in our memory.

Our house during typhoon Parma (Peping)

Another tragedy my home country just experienced after the two typhoons was the Ampatuan Massacre in Maguindanao where there was 57 innocent people consist of journalists, women, who were killed in a barbaric way that I can’t describe because it makes me puke and can’t believe that those who are responsible  can do those awful thing other human beings I think they are not human beings at all. I just hope and pray the victims gets the justice they deserved and their families may recover from the tragedy.

Last year was also a really busy year as I was so active in my community locally and abroad. As a Babaylan Denmark’s country representative I was able to attend the Babaylan europe’s Congress and conference and at the same time I had been to Odense and Norway to spearhead the Au pair conference.

It was also the year 2009 where I was able to travel to Paris, France last  and met a lot of wonderful Filipinos when I joined the annual  conference of the Babaylan Europe and I was glad to meet most of them in the city of romance. I was able to see those wonderful places where I only see in th post cards or in the movie but what I enjoyed most is the people I met especially the migrants when we joined their seminar and I realized that day I or we are so lucky in  Denmark in comparison with  the problems experienced by the Filipino migrants in France. I cried during that meeting because they remind me of my parents who were also worked hard for almost 30 years in foreign land and suffered all the loneliness just to provide us a better life. I can’t control my tears and they just let me cried. I don’t know at that time that my father was about to die and when I came home the day after I was waken up with that call…

Last November I went to Athens, Greece to join the People’s Global Action on Migration, Development human rights conference on Migrant coinciding with the United Nations’s Global Forum on Migration and development  but wasn’t able to come in time during the discussion of the aupair problems but my colleuges from Babaylan Denmark and Babaylan Holland did a great job as most of our countrymen and other NGO’s doesn’t know about it. But I was able to Attend the closing ceremonies and it was fantastic and at the same time sad to hear those sad stories of migrants all over the world.

When the two Pinoys who won the CNN/You tube Contest Paul Garilao and Ponching Orioste Jr. came to Copenhagen I became more busy by introducing them to all the Filipino events and visit relevant places like the Waste Segregation Plant and the Incineration Plant where the waste is turn onto source of heat and energy. we event met the President of the Philippines Gloria Arroyo during her meeting with the Filipino Community in Denmark. So I was told that by my friends that they saw me in TV Patrol when they were featured those two guys.

The Winners of CNN/Youtube COP15 contest Paul and Ponching with Denmark's Filipinamoms Ana and Hilda

I wasn’t able to update this blog because of too many activities and I actually too tired to do anything but my family keeps me sane especially my son who always gives me joy and I cherish every moment I spend with him and of course my husband who always supported me up 100%. And lastly I thank God for all the blessings we had received last year and God bless us for this new year.

I thought it was just a short post but I want to greet and wish you a Happy new year.

fireworks1

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Category: General, Personal  Tags: , , ,  11 Comments
13
Nov
World Kindness Day
filipinamom

Today I’m going to participate in the celebration of World’s Kindness Day which is organized by Mari-Lynn Harris in Bloggers Unite.org by blogging about the kindness I received through the years.

kind blogger

For those who know me they often ask me why I do voluntary work by being active in my organization, the Babaylan Denmark – The Philippine Women’s Network which is part of the Europe Wide Network of Filipinas. We empowered women not by giving them financial help but by conducting Orientations especially for aupairs who are misused by their host families, or by the selfish au pair agencies/agents or by  being drowned by the cultural madness or cultural shock in their host country. Most of the times we or I through the sites I authored get  queries almost about everything regarding Filipinas in trouble. I devote 30 % of my time to voluntary work which I’m glad my husband understand and support.

But you can not please everyone not even your own countrymen because we are always criticized which sometimes my relatives and friends always ask why I do it when I don’t earn anything from it. Our chairperson J.J. was  once questioned what are her motives in helping girls in troubles and how many people she know in our community and she was really hurt. This was an incident where we help a Filipina who we help when she filed a complain against her agent’s husband who allegedly tried to raped her but we did not forced her we just accompanied and supported her.  But I told her Quantity doesn’t matter but the QUALITY and the INTENTION to help is important. We really get a lot of criticisms with regard to women’s standing up and fighting for their rights and we stand up to principles no matter what kind of social status aupairs, house helps, mail order bride, expats etc. these womens are we still help them and I’m glad to be part of these strong Filipinas.

Personally I experienced kindness a lot of times in my lifetime so I want to pass it on to others who needs it. In my  voluntary work you meet a lot of people who needed help in any way but what I always tell them I don’t expect anything in return because most of the time they forget about it when they attained their goals but they should give it back or pass it on by showing kindness to others who might need it.

I think 1993 is the year that I can’t forget when our apartment was burned down by fire in Manila and we don’t have any  clothes to wear and a place to stay my neighbor let us stay in their apartment while  the other neighbors they gave us clothes. Another one who is a member of religious mission conducted fund raising and gave a enough amount of money to buy necessary appliances we that needed. My employee at that time gave me 10,000 Philippine pesos. These are kindness we received without asking for it. So we did not bother to ask our   relatives for help anymore and they don’t know how serious it was losing your home although it was only a rented apartment but the things we owned, the first appliances I bought and  the most important of all the  memories which includes our pictures and memorabilia were  gone.

When I met my husband the year of 2002 and decided to marry him, Denmark at that was time  was about to imposed a new law for family reunification, a stricter than the present one so we encountered a lot of problem with my staying permit. Then a man from Marriage without border (a Union for Danish married with a foreigner) told us where we can marry with very short waiting period and later he also was present in our wedding and be there to support us. Marriage or any wedding at all should be a beginning of a happy union but  it wasn’t for us, doubts, nervousness was overwhelming because what if they will send me out from the country, what will happen to us? is the question that popped on our head that time. Then all of a sudden a man a lawyer called Wilkins who was also married to a foreigner helped us to sign the application form and I tell you it was thick and with all kind of weird questions. He then photocopied my passport and he himself went to the Immigration Office and submitted it while we waited for him at the Central station with my passport for 4 hours and went straight to Malmö City in Sweden (only 30 mins train ride from CPH) and met the Mayor who welcomed us and told us that in Malmo they welcomes EU/Scandinavian Citizen with foreign partners to live there. So we were relieved to hear that we have a back up plan if ever I can’t get the approval from the Danish immigration but I did so here I am blogging about my life in Denmark. And that man Wilkins did not ask us for any fees but just imagine arguing and waiting for 4 hours out there in the immigration office, he was an angel sent down from heavens.

There’s still a lot that I can’t remember everything but I belive that if you give something good you get back in any other way. The law of karma. So whenever I help by just giving advice, offering our home, giving a decent meal, taking time to accompany to the hospital, in the social service, in the free legal assistance office, to the police, or just an instrument by finding ways where they can get are my way of giving back all the kindness I received from people I didn’t know and who did not ask something in return.

So I can say that kindness can make an impact to an individual. In this time of financial crisis and the recent floodings brought by the typhoons in the Philippines, kindness still prevails in the hearts of mankind no matter what the nationalities but their desire to help is there.

Thank you for the people who showed kindness to me and my family I will pass it on to my child and the people whom I meet. In my biology class I can remember that we are homo sapiens a higher level of animals but I can say that kindness is what separate us from the other animal species because we have a heart that knows no boundaries.

Happy KINDness day.

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Category: Awareness, General  Tags: , , , , , , , , ,  8 Comments
03
Nov
The Spider known as Maman in Copenhagen
filipinamom
picture_0110

Maman, a beautiful sculpture by Louise Bourgeois

I was bruising my digital pictures way back in 2003 and I found this picture of a big spider around 30 ft. high.  It was taken by our second digital camera a 3.2 megapixel Kodak which I think it produced wonderful pictures inspite it was a little bit slow. It was taken during summer and it was exhibited in front of the Court house in Gammel Torv in Copenhagen. According to Wikipedia Louise Burgeois was born December 25, 1911 in Paris. She was a famous artist and sculpture and the Maman was most famous since it was exhibited by the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao which reminds me that I dream of visiting that wonderful piece of architecture by Frank Gehry.

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Category: Denmark, General  Tags: , , ,  4 Comments
30
Sep
Let pray for the victims of the typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana)
Filipinamom

I’m terribly saddened by the flooding of almost 80% of Metro Manila and nearby provinces even I experienced more than a dozen of almost 2 meters floods during the 28 years of my life in the Philippines but nothing can compares to the devastation of typhoon Ondoy.

The Filipinos are resilient just like the bamboo tree and you can still see they smile in the midst of their life’s tragedy but at the end of the day they will realize they lose their homes and love on ones it’s really tragic. But we can help them to help them to stand on their feet but donating to authorized agencies  but if we can’t help them financially we can help by reciting this prayer from Fr. Stephen Cuyos.

I know most Pinoy bloggers have already posted about the typhoon but I want to make this prayer as a tag to reach out as much as possible. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t catholic just revise the prayer according to your faith.

You just copy the prayer and tag your friends as many as you want and just mention where you got the tag from and then inform your friend that you tag them.

Fr. Stephen Cuyos of Happy Faith started this prayer and I also post it to my Facebook wall. I will tag the following Marlene, Mom for a Cause, Maricris, Amor,Bing Sitoy, Mel, Rolly & Mathie Banaga

Prayer for the victims of the typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana)

Loving Father, you are our shelter and our hope. We come to you with hearts full of trust in your love and mercy.

We pray for the victims of tropical storm Ondoy. May those who have lost homes and properties find shelter, enough food and clean water. Comfort those who are traumatized and those who are grieving for the loss of their families, neighbors and friends. Bless those who are sick and those who are injured that their health may be restored and their wounds cured. May you lead all who are stranded or lost back to those who love them. Guide the hands of the rescuers, the doctors and nurses and other volunteers and give them strength as they serve others with joy.

May this calamity bring people closer together, to help each other and to care for the environment. Give us the faith, the hope and the love to carry on. This we ask through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.

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Category: Filipino Community, General, Global news, Philippines  Tags: ,  8 Comments
25
Sep
International Day of Peace 2009- Starts with finding the inner peace within one’s self
filipinamom

257Sept. 21 every year marks the International Day of Peace which was officially declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2002. It is a global campaign which different organizations joins in whatever way; it can be through meditation, prayer,lighting a candle or by blogging which I wasn’t able to do that day. But last night when I heard the news that President Obama chaired UN security council summit unanimously approved the passing of the resolution that envisaged a world without nuclear weapon, I have to post about it. He said it may happen in our lifetime but we can rally or pray that our present leaders will do the right thing.

In my motherland, the Philippines I also heard few days ago that there was a fight between the military and the Abu Sayaff group where there were a lot of casualties but when will the conflict will end?. There are always conflict everywhere even here in the little kingdom of Denmark once in while we are shaken by the conflict of the gangs,between the local gang and the gangs of the 2nd generation foreigners and the nationalist hate of the foreigners. There are also the conflicts of some of the Filipino organizations who doesn’t know the real meaning of community service and families who cannot agree with each other.
We can not heal the world but for me let us first look inside our selves and start with finding our inner peace then we will later be at peace with our family and love ones then to the world outside our homes.

I only believe and live from what I learned from my theology class that is  is “To love God and your neighbor”. We should accept and respect the diversity of human beings. But it is easier said than done but for me I will say a little prayer that God bless us and give us the the wisdom to respect each other.

Learn more about the International Peace at their website.

Visit also BloggersUnite for other events or much better join and post an event you cared about.

Peace to all!!!

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Category: Awareness, General  Tags: , , , ,  One Comment
20
Aug
Wordpress Theme Shopcoholic
filipinamom

Maybe you are wondering why I always change my theme from time to time but I will confess that I’m just like any typical girl I love shopping. I love the thrills of scouting quality goods on sale, but what if it’s free? Then it’s better, the WordPress community is filled with talented designers offering not only free but fantastic themes.

So what are the criteria for a non techie like me to look in a theme.

1. Clean and simple.

2. Easy to install.

3. No need to change any code whatsoever except of course the header to suit my taste.

4. Can be viewed in explorer, safari and Mozilla Firefox.

5. It supports widgets and conforms to the latest version of WordPress.

6. And most of all it should be free.

It’s over a year ago that I started to blog and I tried to install a couple of fantastic few but my problem is that I’m a just an end user without knowledge of tweaking I always end up messing up my site. Thanks to my Inweb Hotel who always helpful when I encounter problem in my sites. I remember when I upgraded to WordPress 2.8 last June my site went berserk, I can’t post images and link did not worked and some of my readers said that the feed doesn’t worked. I used a few themes that I really like but I got bored or I encountered problems with it then I, the perpetual shopaholic go out in the world wide web and shop. It’s like window shopping and trying it on then decide what I should use.
Then I encountered templatelite.com which own by Brian and he’s so talented and I found 2 themes that i like. I’m not so wild with scrapping, flowers, ribbons or anything that’s so girlish. (I think I’m a man lol) . But Brian makes it so nice and tone down so I first tried papercraft shown below and wow I’m impressed it was easy and clean but I need to change the little girl since I’m a Filipina and it will take hours with my beginner’s knowledge of Photoshop . But you download the psd file with a fee then you are able to tweak it the way you want it. But I can’t afford that because I’m just a student and this blog doesn’t earn anything yet so I have to find another theme.
papercraft

papercraft theme

Now, The Filipinamom in Denmark is wearing this coffe desk theme which I think it’s perfect because right now I’m sitting in my oak table with coffee, my laptop, my organizer (yes they call it calendar in Danish and its a must) and a pen though not a Montblanc. This is still a personal blog so it fits I just need to change the font in the header then its done.

Coffetable theme

This is not a paid review or anything but this is just appreciation of people in the worldpress community who offers free themes and tips which spent several hours and hard work. I once encountered a post about thankless community so I wanted to thank wordpress for giving us this wonderful and powerful blog platform and all those who offer their themes and plugins for free.

Thank you Brian and you can visit his site at http://www.templatelite.com/ and avail of his nice and wonderful themes.

templatelite

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Category: General  Tags: , ,  4 Comments
16
Aug
Bitchology
filipinamom

Did you experienced that somebody called you a bitch because you speak what’s in your mind? In the Philippines where girls are brought up to be nice and sweet and answering your elders or your superior are regarded as a No No or they will call you a blacksheep or a worst a bitch. I don’t mean that we have to be rude and forget about our upbringing but living in a different culture where people can be frank and straight in dealing with each other like the Danes can be create emotional turmoil especially for new comers like the aupairs. We have to understand their culture in order to live harmoniously. But saying No and expressing your disagreement to the norms doesn’t make you a bitch in a negative way and don’t be discourage if you are branded or called a bitch.

Because according to The Bitch Manifesto you have to proud to be called bitch because Bitch is beautiful . Just to give you an idea what are the personality traits of a bitch here’s an except from the manifesto:

Personality of a bitch: Bitches are aggressive, assertive, domineering, overbearing, strong-minded, spiteful, hostile, direct, blunt, candid, obnoxious, thick-skinned, hard-headed, vicious, dogmatic, competent, competitive, pushy, loud-mouthed, independent, stubborn, demanding, manipulative, egoistic, driven, achieving, overwhelming, threatening, scary, ambitious, tough, brassy, masculine, boisterous, and turbulent. Among other things. A Bitch occupies a lot of psychological space. You always know she is around. A Bitch takes shit from no one. You may not like her, but you cannot ignore her

You can visit http://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/bitch.htm for more details about the bitch manifesto and the works of Jo Freeman a feminist activist and author.

bitchy-women-funny-photo

Photos source: www.khmerfuture.com

I got this email from Filomenita but instead of forwarding to my friends I will post it here so that it will somehow lift the spirits of women who are branded as bitch. You can tag it if you think you’re a bitch and just link it back to me. This blog is dedicated to Judy, Nitnit and the rest of Babaylan Denmark who are branded as “Pakialamera ng Bayan” or something like the city’s impertinent/intrusive. I feel sorry for the Babaylan Jylland who are just started but right now experiencing the jagged claws of the crab and law of the small town of Jante, keep it up and we are here to support you. And not to forget the rest of Babaylan Europe . Fighting for women’s issue isn’t always easy as you’re not only intimidate men but as well as women who still belongs to the old definition of women who can’t say what they think in front of other person but bravely speaks ill of that person when they are not around. I’m proud to be a Babaylan and if you call us BITCH, thank you because we are PROUD of it.

And here is the email:

AND THEN WHAT!!!!????

Be GLAD YOU ARE ONE………..

Don’t REGRET ANYTHING……..

It takes GRIT to be a B…..

Enjoy every BIT of IT

B of ITCH

The last line takes the cake!

BITCHOLOGY When I stand up for myself and my beliefs, they call me a bitch.

When I stand up for those I love, they call me a bitch.

When I speak my mind, think my own thoughts or do things my own way, they call me a bitch.

Being a bitch means I won’t compromise what’s in my heart.

It means I live my life MY way.

It means I won’t allow anyone to step on me.

When I refuse to tolerate injustice and speak against it, I am defined as a bitch.

The same thing happens when I take time for myself instead of being everyone’s maid, or when I act a little selfish.

It means I have the courage and strength to allow myself to be who I truly am and won’t become anyone else’s idea of what they think I ’should’ be.

I am outspoken, opinionated and determined.

I want what I want and there is nothing wrong with that!

So try to stomp on me, just try to douse my inner flame, try to squash every ounce of beauty I hold within me.

You won’t succeed. And if that makes me a bitch ,so be it.

I embrace the title and am proud to bear it.

B – Babe

I – In

T – Total

C – Control of

H – Herself

B = Beautiful

I = Intelligent

T = Talented

C = Charming

H = Hell of a Woman

B = Beautiful

I = Individual

T = That

C = Can

H = Handle ‘anything’

Send this to women to put a smile on their face!! ‘If you can’t do something right, get a woman to do it.

Are you a BITCH?

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Category: General, Women's issue  Tags: , , , , , ,  5 Comments
05
Aug
Thank you Cory Aquino- The greatest Filipinamom
filipinamom
Farewell  and Thank you Cory
Former Philippines President: Corazon Cojuangco Aquino (1933-2009)
Former Philippines President: Corazon Cojuangco Aquino (1933-2009) Photo

, a mother and the President of the Philippines 

Cory Aquino was the president of my youth. During the my last year in high school, the People power revolution broke out and classes were dismissed and we stayed home for several days, confused and uncertain about the future of our country while  my father used to listen to the radio to keep  abreast of what was happening in Manila. We keep on asking him when we have to go back in school but he just said that he don’t know we have to pray for miracle. And miracle did happened, Marcos fled the country and Cory became the first woman president not only in the Philippines but in Asia.

She was the president during my college days and what I can remember was the hope and the excitement of finally tasting the freedom from all the years of oppression. If was also turbulent period because her goverment underwent many coup d’etat but she survived it all. Not only man made disasters but the unforgetable natural disasters happened during her presidency like the  July 19, 1990 Cabanatuan-Baguio earthquake which hometown, Dagupan City was devastated, the MT. Pinatubo volcano eruption in 1991 and the typhoon Uring which caused the massive flooding in Ormoc which killed thousands of people. Just imagined what she has been through but until the end she still thinks of the Philippines and the future of the Filipino people.

She is not only a mother of Kris Aquino and her siblings but the Filipino nation as well because if not for her courage we will be free from the dictatorship and who knows what will happen to the Philippines if she just keep silent and mind her own business. But even in her sufferings of losing her beloved husband, she also helped the Filipino nation to stand up and say “Tama Na Sobra na” (Stop and that’s Enough).

She is not perfect as a president as I heard several what if’s but like a mother she didn’t abandoned her family despite all the pressures left and right. But she left us hope and faith which will keep the Filipinos united. Despite her popularity  she lived a normal life after her term and experienced every ordianary mother  will experience family problems. Life is not perfect even her daughter Kris who was her constant companion being the youngest had been through a lot of problems who’s family is not perfect we all made mistakes Cory being truly a filipinamom  showed that she wasn not happy of what was happening but she still did support and accepts her with open arms when she asked for forgiveness.

Cory Aquino in the eyes of the world

cory2 in dr

A Screen shot from the program in DR1

In international telivision she was interviewed by several networks but I can not forget that I  happened to watched a program in the Danish national telivision DR1 “De skrev historie” meaning “They wrote history” a series of interview  of people who changed the history of the world the likes of Bishop Desmond Tutu, Madeleine Albright, Lech Walesa, Benazir Bhutto, etc. and I felt proud as a Filipina because we had started this trend of bloodless revolution and was led by a Filipina. It was also the way she told her story smiling a lot , even when she told about her husband murder she still  glows maybe yellow really suites her. You can watched archived of the program here  but I’m not so sure if you can watched it outside Denmark.

 In witten media she was also the darling of the press one of them is the Times Magazine. If you browse the Times Magazine homepage , you can find the following

1.Cory’s life in picture gallery .

2. She was cited as the Time Magazine’s Woman of year in 1987, you can read the article  here.

santan2 copy

My heartfelt condolence to the family that was left behind by the former President of the Philippines, Corazon Cojuangco Aquino. I just lost my father so I know how hard to loss one’s parent especially  Cory who served as mother and a father to her 5 children since 1989 when her husband, Benigno Aquino was assasinated.

May Cory’s example be the source strenght of millions of Filipinamoms all over the world during this time of financial crisis and to those who are working away from their families the OFW and other migrant families that they should not lose hope and faith.

Thank you Cory and may your soul rest in peace.

 

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Category: Filipino Community, General  Tags: , , , ,  9 Comments
24
Jul
Hello Philippines!!!
filipinamom

After 6 years I will be back in my beloved country together with my hubby and my son.
I remember the excitement whenever my parents (yes I’m one of the millions Filipino global families) or my aunts and uncles go home to the Philippines. Anticipating what it’s in for me when they open their suitcases and wonder what resorts we’re going to visit.

But now it’s my turn. I’ve been crazy hunting anything in my closet and all the malls scouting for anything I can bring home. My nieces and nephew are teenagers now so it took me a long time to find out something that they will like. Good thing we still have the summer sale going on. I can’t afford to buy expensive gifts since I’m only a student but I already filled 2 suit cases. My sister asked me where do I get my money since don’t work. Well thanks to a very understanding husband my money is my own except I pay for my son’s day care, but the rest is mine and I’m good in saving because I know this moment will come then I don’t have ask him to buy those pasalubongs which he will have the hard time understanding.

25 days is very short time for a visit and I don’t know if I can visit all my friends and visit a lot of places but definately I will spent some time with my family my nieces, cousins and uncle and not to forget my grandmothers who are in their 90’s I hope they still can remember me but I’m sure they are glad that now I’m happily married and did not end up as a old maid.

It’s not a good time to visit the Philippines because it is a wet season but I don’t any choice it the summer vacation here in Europe so I have to make the most of it and pray that there will not come any typhoon or floods. Or we just stay on the beach everyday.

10 days more……and we will be there…

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Category: Being Filipino, General, Uncategorized  Tags: ,  2 Comments
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