A Migrant Story

 06 October 2021 Ilang saglit na lamang at ako'y magdiriwang na muli ng aking kaarawan. Kay bilis lumipas ng 365 na araw. Parang kailan lang na kapiling ko ang aking pamilya sa Pilipinas. Mahigit 6 na taon na ng ako'y mangibang bayan. Sinubukan ang pamumuhay sa di nakasanayang bayan. Sa awa ng Diyos ako'y Kanyang pinatnubayan. Ako'y nakaraos at ngayo'y isa nang mamamayan ng ibang bayan. Maraming salamat sa lahat ng kapamilya, kamag-anak at kaibigan. Na nakasama at kasama ko sa aking paglalakbay. Aking dalangin ay patnubayan at patuloy na biyaya sa lahat. At matapos na ang pandemyang ngayon ay aming nararanasan. Ang aking puso ay nababalot ng kagalakan. Hindi man alam ang aking kapalaran, sa tulong ng Iyong grasya at awa, Diyos ko ako'y patuloy mong patnubayan.

21 July 2021 Dearest Joel, I hope you're doing well and safe. Today marks your 6th year in Australia. Congratulations for this milestone. To embark a new life in a foreign land is not an easy decision.  It takes a lot of courage, patience and perseverance to begin everything to an unknown place. Jobless, homeless and with a very tight budget to begin with in your journey. I'm glad to know that you keep up with the challenges and never give up. You were able to attain your objective to bring your family members in Australia. In the meantime, while the travel restriction is in place, keep firm in your plan to bring along your dad for him to see and to explore your beautiful country.  I'm also happy to know that you got your Australian Citizenship after 5 years of long wait. You took the long path and managed to satisfy all the eligibility requirements for provisional visa subclass and permanent residency prior to your citizenship. You were also able to work in Baida Poultry -...

It's been exactly a month now since I moved to Sydney from Griffith NSW. With very limited time to prepare for the relocation, I took a leap of faith of moving to a new place without any permanent accommodation.  I arrived on Sunday night and started to work the following day.  I had few of my essentials and personal things stored in my car for a week until I found my temporary abode.   Thanks to Louie, Crishanne and Aome for adopting a homeless. It was a quick turnaround as I needed to start immediately after receiving the positive outcome of my application. I can say that God has prepared my way.  I never expected it to be this fast. It seems that I have undergo an express processing. 14th March - Lodged my job application 17th March - Job interview 18th March - Reference checks 19th March - Positive outcome and Job Offer 20th March - Contract Signing and Job Acceptance I may have some difficulties in the relocation and beginning a new life in unfamiliar place...

Have you ever experienced being in a long queue? Waiting for someone to arrive? Waiting for a delivery package from Ebay, Lazada or shoppee? Waiting for the right opportunity to come? All of us may have experienced this in one point of our lives. By definition, waiting is a state or attitude of watchfulness and expectancy. Waiting is a period wherein you are expecting that a certain activity or a thing is expected to be accomplished.  The recent month has been a tough one and a big test for me.  Nevertheless, I am still grateful for the people that have taken the journey with me. Fast forward, I'm currently living in a city which is just an imagination before.  Although I have planned to move to Canberra, God allowed me to be here in Sydney. New environment, new work and new people.  I'm still unsure what awaits me here, but I'm definite that this is part of God's plan.

26 January 2021 From this time forward, under God, I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose right and liberties I respect, and  whose laws I will uphold and obey. Today, I took an oath of allegiance to Australia, which is now my 2nd home.  I never imagined myself being a citizen of another country, other than the Philippines, but God  provided me an opportunity to call this amazing place my new home.  My Australian journey started on 2013 when I sought Respall's migration assistance.  I received my subclass 489 (Skilled Regional Sponsored - Provisional) visa on February 2015. Then waited for another 2 years to satisfy the eligibility requirements for subclass 887 (Skilled Regional) application. I received my visa grant on December 2018.   The difference is that the latter is a permanent visa subclass while the former is a skilled visa intended to drive migrants to live in specified regional areas for at l...

PANDEMIC | A curse or recovery period December 2019 when the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has emerged in Wuhan, China. On 30th January 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. I never thought that a pandemic could be possible in my lifetime. It is like a plague  (Ten Plagues in Old Testament)   , which I only heard of in my religion class during high school. Would it really be possible? It is and it's happening. However the source is still a mystery and China is refusing that it has originated from them. Individuals and business, both in public and private sectors, have been forced to adapt from the effects of this pandemic. Everyone must be able to protect themselves. Employees are advised to work from home with limited mobility, while employers are struggling to meet the targets. Only the traditional sectors have continuously flourished such as agriculture and health-related business, to...