Page 30 - PR's - People & Culture

Every migrant worker’s story is the same, yet di erent from that of another. e stories are the same, in that at their heart is the severing of ties, of all things familiar and comfortable and safe, and the embracing of everything that is new, of risk, of many unknowns and uncertain tomorrows. Such is the life of every migrant working family outside the Philippines. And today, we are said to number more than ten million.
What works? How do we get prepared? Is it worth it all?
My name is Hedda, and I’ve been an Overseas Filipino Worker for more than 24 years this 2019. Am I a success in my chosen eld? Have I achieved balance in terms of career and parenting? Some may think so. Others may disagree. We all have our own particu-
lar de nitions of what success looks like. e only thing we probably would all agree upon, is that there are trade o s to living abroad. Our lives are forever changed once we leave our shores. We are never going to be the same persons we were when we rst le .
.....is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Nursing. After passing the Licensure Examination for Nurses in 1995, she joined her father, mother and younger sister in Bangkok. Instead of ending up in health care however, Ms. Tady found herself an accidental teacher of 1st grade Thai students. After ve years, she re- alized education was a eld teeming with opportunities, and it offered a sense of purpose.
To date, Ms. Tady has been in education for 24 years and holds a Master of Arts in Teaching English degree. She has run many workshops for teachers, both in the Filipino community in Thailand and to an international audience. Her latest one was at ELLSA (English Language Learning Specialists in Asia) 2019, in Ru- amrudee International School in Bangkok, where she talked and presented on harmonious relationships among co-teachers.
Ms. Tady has organized online community hubs, charity projects and given of her expertise in several community events, teaching other teachers how to teach well. Currently, she is pursuing an action research grant at EARCOS (East Asia Regional Council of Schools) to study what parents, teachers and students view as an effective support program for learners of English. She hopes that such a study could impact better communication between school and home, to ensure students’ needs are met more effectively, as they learn English in very rigorous college preparatory settings, which is what many international schools in Asia are.
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