RISE BEYOND
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RISE BEYOND
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Despite everything, I did well in school. I received recognition as an honor student. Those ribbons meant so much to me. They told the barefoot girl who smelled like fish: Maybe you can become something more. My mother dreamed that one day I would become a teacher. But I had another dream. I told her I wanted to become a lawyer. I wanted to help poor people who couldn't afford lawyers and who sometimes couldn't fight for themselves because they didn't have money. I didn't know how such a dream could possibly happen. We were struggling just to put rice on our table. But still... I dreamed.
Sometimes the hardest thing wasn't being poor. It was watching an opportunity you wanted slowly move beyond your reach. After everything I experienced as a child, there was one thing I desperately wanted: I wanted to study. Every time I went to school, I noticed my classmates. Some had shoes. They had complete notebooks and pencils. Their uniforms were clean and neatly ironed. Sometimes I looked at them and silently asked God: “Lord, why do other children have these things while my family doesn't?” I was only a child. Of course I wanted nice clothes too. I wanted shoes. I wanted complete school supplies. I wanted to go to school without worrying about whether there would be food waiting for us afterward. But another voice inside me would answer: “It's okay. As long as my family is healthy and happy.”
I left the classroom, but I never stopped learning. I boarded a ship going to Manila. I was still very young, leaving the simple place I knew and traveling toward a world I had never experienced before. When I arrived, everything seemed enormous. There were so many people at the harbor. Cars filled the roads. There was traffic everywhere. The roads looked wider and longer than anything I was used to.
I didn't have the luxury of waiting for the perfect opportunity. I needed to work. And that next workplace would eventually introduce me to the brother of one of my coworkers—and another completely different chapter of my life would begin. But there was something I had already learned from my first heartbreak: When I lost something, I didn't stop. I looked for somewhere else to go. When one door closed, I learned another skill. When one job ended, I applied for another. And when somebody broke a promise, I refused to let that broken promise break my future.
Without a diploma, she relied on her courage, experience, and willingness to learn. When motherhood brought heartbreak and hardship, she refused to wait for someone to rescue her. She sold homemade sweets and soap to provide for her children. Through every struggle, a mother’s love gave her the strength to keep going.
I arrived in Cyprus with fear, responsibility, and a determination to survive. From caregiving and learning to drive to an unexpected pregnancy and starting over, every challenge tested my strength—and taught me that even in my hardest moments, I could still rise and help others do the same.
After my son was born, I thought the hardest part was behind me. I was wrong. The next years would teach me that sometimes winning one battle only opens the door to another. I had survived pregnancy, leaving my employer, Saint Joseph, giving birth and starting again. Now I had a baby in my arms. And I had to build a secure life for him.
I remained proud of my years at Hilton. Every year we had gatherings where employees' families could meet one another, and my son became part of that world too. After roughly three years, however, my life changed direction again. The man who had helped me during my father's surgery wanted me to assist with his solar-system business. I began helping with practical work—driving, collecting tools, buying things that were needed and delivering food or materials to workers. Then another idea came.
