In line with UPAA-MB, Inc.’s aim to encourage Filipino-Canadian students to pursue their scholastic objectives, the organization has been awarding an annual bursary to a chosen university student since 2011. This year, the organization did the selection of the recipient on its own. The $500 scholarship was granted on September 1, 2013.
The scholarship awardee for 2013 was Fredieson Jem Tumambing. He was chosen based on his academic performance, community involvement, and financial need. He is a graduate from Maples Collegiate, 18 years old, and will be going to University of Manitoba to take up Nursing. Fredieson’s family moved to Winnipeg in 2005 and he is the eldest among the three siblings. He also joined and actively participated in Maples Peer Tutoring Group, Junior Varsity Badminton Team, Science Club, and Maples Amnesty Group where he explored social justice issues along with other students from all ethnic backgrounds.
The recipient with the 2013 Scholarship Committee.
His teachers described him as thoughtful, hardworking, and diligent student. Fredieson is strong academically and he volunteered his time to share his skills and knowledge to other people. With his very good academic standing, generous character, and sincerity in welcoming and helping newcomers, he is definitely a model student.
Students like Fredieson continue to inspire UPAA-MB, Inc. to support scholastic endeavors of Filipino-Canadian students. They do not only serve as role models to the youth, they also help uplift the profile of the Filipino community in Manitoba.
UPAA-MB, Inc. members, families, and supporters gathered to celebrate the completion of the 2013 Health Isko Lifestyle Challenge Program. The Challenge was launched in April 20, 2013 and was concluded on August 24, 2013 in conjunction with the annual Palarolympics event held at Birds Hill Park.
Challengers and Handlers during the Launch (CW from Top Left: Gabby, Mei, Joanna, Janine)
“Healthy Isko” is a four-month long competition wherein challengers identify a health goal and meet that goal at the end of the challenge period, with the help and supervision of the coaches:
The challengers have been directed about proper goal settings, which they will apply each week in setting their fitness objectives and action plans. During the challenge period, the challengers learned about general health, healthy weight loss, proper exercise levels, and healthy eating. They participated in different activities such as healthy eating workshops, community kitchen, a grocery tour, and group workout activities.
Group workout
Janine Rose Quijano emerged as the Most Valuable Challenger. The other successful Challengers are Joanna Ocampo-Flores, Mei Villafania, and Gabby Maramag.
The Challengers during the Awarding Ceremony (L-R: Mei, Joanna, Janine)
Community Involvement
To further encourage the participation of the community, Healthy Isko enlisted the help of friends, family, and co-workers of the challengers by creating an Information Hub for the program. The Information Hub is a Facebook Page where challengers, coaches, and supporters exchange ideas and share tips on health and fitness. Access to the Hub is available to anyone with a Facebook account who pledged a monetary amount (minimum $5) to any challenger. Half of the pledges raised went to the Most Valuable Challenger while the other half of the funds raised will go to UPAA-MB, Inc. Participation in the discussion in the Hub, pledges and other assistance given by members were awarded support points. Jullie Quijano was awarded as the Most Supportive Member for garnering the most support points.
Healthy Isko Dinner with the Challengers, Supporters, Advisors, Coaches, and Family Members
Challengers’ Experience
At the end of the challenge, the challengers were asked to share what their experiences and realizations. Here are some of the excerpts.
Janine – “I’m realizing that it’s not so hard to live a healthier lifestyle. I have the tools to keep myself going, and keep myself get better even after the challenge. I’ve actually enjoyed doing healthier activities and now I can say that I am looking forward with keeping myself healthy and forming healthy. I’ve also become more independent because of this challenge. Ultimately, it’s up to me to make myself better and I was able to do it.”
Gabby – “Not everything is gonna be easy. There are always challenges especially when you’re young it’s hard because sometimes your friends would eat junk foods and that I would end up eating a lot. It’s okay to eat the foods that you like but you need to have control. Control how much you eat. Meaning measure how much you eat. Also avoiding some bad habits while you’re eating helps maintain that sense of having control on how much you’ve eaten.”
Joanna – “There is no magic pill. Proper diet and exercise are the only way to go. It’s all about choices. Luck and fate have got nothing to do with it. You choose to eat healthy. You choose to sweat and work out.”
Congratulations to all the challengers and thank you to everyone who supported the Program.
The 2013 PalarOlympics and 2013 Healthy Isko Lifestyle Challenge Awarding Ceremony were held at Bird’s Hill Provincial Park on August 24. The awarding ceremony recognized the efforts and achievements of the four Challenge Finishers, Gabby, Janine, Joanna, and Mei, and other individuals who contributed a lot to the success of the Lifestyle Challenge. Janine was declared as the Crowd’s Favorite after gathering almost 44% of the total pledges and the Most Supportive Member Award went to Jullie who collected a total of 72 member points. Janine, who got the highest score of 81%, was declared the Most Valuable Challenger and brought home half of the pot money.
Top L-R: Healthy Isko Lifestyle Challenge Awarding Ceremony and group warm up exercises: Bottom L-R: Jeffrey from Green Team and Danjae from Orange Team during Luksong Tinik
The awarding ceremony was immediately followed by the mini-sports fest program. The participants first played rock-paper-scissors to determine their teams. The winners formed the Orange Team while the losers composed the Green Team. Healthy Isko Lifestyle Challenge’s Coach Norman led the warm up exercises prior to the start of the games.
I Love You Teleber-Teleber Game. On left is the Orange Team and Green T team on the right.
The organizers from the Membership Committee prepared several popular Filipino games. The first and second games, Dr. Quack Quack and I Love You Teleber-Teleber (jumping rope game), were won by the Green Team, which gave them a score of two points. The next game, Luksong Lubid, had the two teams tied, earning one point apiece. Team Orange was able to catch up when they scored the most on Tumbang Preso and Dodgeball. However, the Green Team got the higher score on the tie-breaker game, Pinoy Football, making them the Champions of PalarOlympics 2013.
Lunch time and Pinoy Football
The two-fold event was a showcase of sportsmanship, camaraderie, and teamwork among UPAA-MB, Inc. members, families, and friends even while in a competition. All the cheers, high jumps, dodging, strategizing, high fives, good food, and lots of sunshine contributed even more to the success of the event. Congratulations to the Membership Committee for hosting the 2013 PalarOlympics, the Green Team, and to the winners and Executive Council of 2013 Healthy Isko Lifestyle Challenge.
Ten members of the University of the Philippines Alumni and Associates in Manitoba, (UPAA-MB), Inc. volunteered at Siloam Mission last August 3, 2013 to serve Winnipeg’s poor and homeless. This was the second time the organization, through its Social Responsibility Committee, held this activity. Siloam Mission is a Christian humanitarian agency committed to serving and transforming the lives of the less fortunate.
UPAA-MB volunteers with Belinda, Siloam Mission staff (Left, second row)
The volunteers were assigned to the kitchen, drop-in centre to serve the clients and bus tables, and clothing room to help with the distribution of clothing donations.
As the drop-in centre at the main building is currently under renovation, the volunteers had to carry the food from the kitchen to a temporary location at the adjoining building within the compound.
Just like the first activity, a brief orientation tour first took place before the three groups went to their respective assigned areas. Belinda, a Siloam Mission staff explained what Siloam Mission is doing, emphasizing that its programs and services are guided by its core values of respect, dignity and fairness. During the tour, the group had the opportunity to view the Emergency Overnight Shelter, the Saul Sair Health Centre where medical, dental and chiropractic facilities are made available to clients, and the staff offices on the fourth floor of the building. Volunteer doctors, dentists and chiropractors regularly provide services to those clients.
Siloam Mission’s Chiropractic Clinic
The UPAA-MB volunteers performed their assigned tasks along with other individual volunteers, some of whom have been serving Siloam Mission for quite some time. For seven months now, Patrick, a retiree from one of Winnipeg’s hospitals, has been volunteering twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. For him, doing so gives him a sense of personal satisfaction. In fact, he also regularly volunteers at another Winnipeg hospital on another day of the week. He has observed that on a weekday, about 300 people would come over to Siloam’s drop-in centre to have lunch.
Siloam Mission’s Dental Clinic
When all the clients were served, the volunteers queued up to partake of their meal which consisted of mushroom soup with croutons, pizza, sandwich and chocolate bread. This was followed by a group photo together with Belinda who expressed thanks and appreciation to all volunteers. The group parted ways with everyone feeling a great sense of accomplishment.
Team Beach-ing at Grand Beach was another successful summer activity of the UPAA-MB, Inc. More than 30 members, their families and friends enjoyed the fun-filled activity held last Saturday, July 20, 2013, at Grand Beach.
Organizers from the Membership Committee arrived at 7:30 a.m. to set up the event. Arriving early guaranteed ample space for picnic and the planned games and activities. The fun and the games started at 10:30 a.m. The group formed two teams through “Rock-paper-scissors” with the winners forming one team and the losers comprising the other team.
Three games were prepared by the organizers – “Agawang-panyo”, “Water Relay” and “Kastilyong Buhangin”. These are popular Filipino games and the teams had fun remembering the rules and playing the games they played when they were younger. As predicted by their team name, ”Team Winners” won both the “Agawang-panyo” and the “Water Relay” and was declared over-all champions. “Team Losers” won the “Kastilyong Buhangin”. Here are some pictures of the teams in action during the games.
Team Winners and Team Losers playing Agawang-Panyo.Oliver from Team Loser during Water Relay.Team Losers building their Kastilyong Buhangin.The Team Winners.
Food was overflowing as with any Filipino event. Potluck food included grilled hotdogs, roasted chicken, spaghetti, veggie platters, siomai, empanada, rolls, pies, fruits and the all-time Filipino favourites: barbeque and grilled fish.
An excursion would not be complete if there are no pictures. Group picture-taking followed after the lunch as some members had to leave early due to prior commitments. Although a few went home early, most of the group stayed to swim, play scrabble and frisbee, stroll, enjoy the view and relax at the beach. They finally went home at around 8:00 p.m., ending another fun-filled summer activity of UPAA-MB, Inc.
“AN ALL-AROUND SCHOLAR” First UPAA-MB Inc. bursary recipient Coleen Valdez talks about immigration, education, and self-discovery
Coleen receiving a certificate and monetary award during the 2011 Youth Recognition Awards. Photo c/o Coleen Valdez.
THREE YEARS AGO, Coleen Valdez packed her bags and left for Canada together with her family. At that time, she was a bright-eyed freshman at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. Fast-forward to today, and Coleen is on her third year of studies at University of Manitoba, raking up awards and scholarships for her impressive academic work.
Eldest in a family of four, Coleen has been surrounded by family members who truly inspire her. “My grandfather was a lawyer working for the Department of Education, and my father is an engineer who, ironically, is passionate and extremely good in writing.” No wonder she became zealous about writing and initially pursued a degree in Journalism. “However, I gradually came to realize that writing is my passion—it’s not an academic pursuit for me.” Due to this, Coleen decided to enroll in the Department of Economics at the U of M which is “a program that I will enjoy and use all my skills, apart from it being very challenging and interesting”, and quoting John Maynard Keynes, “be an all-around scholar”.
Arriving in Canada prior to the implementation of K-12 program in the Philippines, Coleen had to attend high school again to complete the rest of the credits required to enter university. She attended Sisler High School and her desire to learn never faltered. She received the Margaret and Abe Barg scholarship upon graduating. At that time, she was also in pursuit of other bursaries and scholarships, which led her to become UPAA-MB Inc.’s first bursary recipient. She also received the Outstanding Filipino Students award by the Knights of Rizal Winnipeg chapter for being one of the Filipino/Filipino-Canadian Grade 12 students who graduated with the highest GPAs in the city.
Coleen with University 1 Director Dr. Bonnie C. Hallman during the U1 Honour Roll Night. Photo courtesy of Coleen Valdez.
After her first year in university (U of M calls their general first year university program as University 1 – AS), Coleen has received four scholarships and one bursary including the University Merit Award, which is an award for academic excellence. She also received the Faculty of Arts Special Award, whose recipients were hand-selected by the Dean of the faculty. Moreover, she is a part of the University 1 Honor Roll in her first year and continued to be in the Dean’s Honour List on her second year.
She mentions that the scholarships and bursaries she has received have helped her in many ways, but sees it to have helped her parents more than herself. Coleen is proud to say that the financial awards she received allowed her parents not to spend anything on her studies. She said she still has a student loan; however, majority of her tuition fee amount have been financed by her scholarship and bursary money.
Much to her chagrin, Coleen didn’t have much volunteer experience. What little experience she has is with university events such as the Political Studies Student Conference and the annual University Orientation. Schedule conflicts are often the cause – not lack of interest in community work. “I tend to focus on one task at a time,” she says, as she takes a full course load every term and spends the summer working to finance her education. She finds that it is not easy to juggle the academic and extra-curricular tasks based on her experience when she was a student in the Philippines. “I do not recommend students to follow this path; however, I would advise to commit to as many tasks as their schedule and sanity could handle and make sure they can balance all their responsibilities.”
Coleen plans to volunteer in conjunction with her work once she has finished a portion of her 11-year career plan. “My plans are in the following order: I plan to finish my degree, find work, be involved in the community, and then finish my degree in Law. Afterwards, I plan to continue volunteering in the subsequent years.” She also wishes to be part of an organization like UPAA-MB, Inc. that helps out Filipinos in Canada. Coleen thinks that despite the significant number of Filipinos in Canada, there are still a number of them who still lack moral and financial support in order for them to be successful in the community that they are now a part of. Knowing that there are organizations out there that are able to assist their kababayan is “empowering and motivating.” She also wants be a part of an organization that assists women who are in disadvantageous situations.
Coleen with her co-Orientation Leader, Alicia Ling, during the Orientation 2012 at the University of Manitoba. Photo courtesy of Coleen Valdez.
With her schedule and priorities obviously keeping her busy, how does Coleen handle everything? Coleen said she does pretty well in school and received compliments from her professors; yet, she admits that “she is no Einstein.” She attributes her impressive grades from her curiosity. “I am one of those annoying students who have questions and ask for clarifications all the time.”
Coleen thinks that asking questions is really important. “There is always 70% chance that half of the class—if not the entire class—has the same question as you have.” She also mentions studying in advance and visiting the professors during office hours as keys to her study habits. “I try to study and do my school works in advance so that I have time to see the professor if there’s anything I don’t get.”
Asked about tips for incoming post-secondary students, Coleen states that students should admit that they don’t know anything. “It is also important that they commit to as many tasks as they can handle,” but adding that knowing their capabilities is still key in order to complete one assignment without neglecting the other. She also suggests using vacant periods wisely by studying to lessen the work load at home and sitting in front of the class in order to keep up in the lessons. Consulting with university-based support groups is something that students should take advantage of. Coleen cites PEERS at U of M provides confidential support for students who have problems that distract them from performing well at school.
When it comes to the topic of student finances, she says that scholarships and bursaries are out there, and should they plan to apply, they should be themselves and be confident. “If you think you deserve it, show them why. It is not just the battle of the brainiest; it’s all about who wants to achieve something and who has the passion to do it.”
Coleen also has advice for Filipino students who have immigrated to Canada and find themselves being required to study again. “Initially you may feel bad, especially if you have to go back to high school in order to meet some Canadian university requirements,” she says. “But that’s totally fine! Make the most of that experience as it’s a great way to meet new people, try new things and most of all, discover yourself.” She provides an example that she didn’t know she does well in Math until she attended Sisler and her teacher and peers noticed that she has the flair for numbers. “The point is,” she says as a closing remark, “going to a different country is an opportunity to discover other things you can do or improve those fields you are already good at. Here in Canada, the only thing that can stop you from dreaming is your own demise. It may be morbid, but it’s true. If there’s a lack of resources to attend school, the government is always willing to help financially to supplement your own initiative to take up a part-time job.”
