Filipinos in Thailand - 1,2,3...and Their Legacy

1,2,3...and Their Legacy

Written by Hedda Joy Tady-Tan

Thursday, 29 March 2007

Page 2 of 3

Ms. Helen Aquino:

How did you get here?

“By chance,” was Helen’s reply. “1985, I was in Sydney, Australia. I was sent by the nuns there to study mail-order brides. So I was moving around a lot – Canberra, Melbourne, South Wales... and then came winter. It was very cold. And so I gave my sister, who was living in Thailand, a phone call. To escape the cold, I came to visit her here.”

How did you get a job at an international school?

“I was told there was a Catholic international school and so I went. That was in June. When I spoke to the administrator, I was told that they already have teachers lined up as early as December. Then I was asked if I could teach Chemistry and Physical Science,” says Helen.

To which she replied, “Well, it just so happened that I’m a pharmacist.”

Helen was then asked to do a demonstration lesson. At that time, it was to a class full of farang students – British, American and Australian. And after the demonstration, she was told to go to Malaysia to have her visa changed from tourist to non-immigrant.

At that time, just as today, people chose to do their visa change in Penang, Malaysia. But before her trip, Helen was given a stern warning by her sister – “Be careful of drugs. People might slip something into your bag, and you will be the one punished for it.” The punishment is no less than the death penalty!

And so off to Penang Helen went. There, she was met by a friend of her sister’s. “An Indian lady”, Helen recalls. “Then I shared a room with a Japanese girl.”

At that time, there were very few cars in Penang. Helen remembers getting on a motorbike in a skirt, to go to the Thai embassy.

For Helen, she got that job to teach Chemistry and Physical Science in Ruamrudee International School because of two things: one is because she happened to be at the right place at the right time. The chemistry teacher she replaced just resigned when she went to the school to apply for a job.

But the second thing that brought her that job, was God’s plan and God’s will, she says.

But the second thing that brought her that job, was God’s plan and God’s will, she says.

To the latter, her friend Suzie also shares the same belief. “Being at the right place at the right time and praying for what you want”, according to Suzie, go hand in hand.

What advice would you give to other teachers who plan to work here, and to those who are currently looking for better jobs in Thailand?

“Anybody qualified, with God’s help, can land a job in an international school”, Helen says. “But one has to be fluent in English, has to have a teacher’s certification...an international one, to give one an edge.”

“But most important of all”, Helen adds, “is guts. You cannot allow yourself to be intimidated by anybody especially since you will be dealing with different kinds of people.”

What are you busy with nowadays?

Helen is now busy preparing to enjoy a much-deserved break from the challenges being a teacher in an international school brings. She is retiring this year, and will be enjoying the same privileges Suzie has right now, particularly that of not having to wake up to the sound of an alarm clock in the mornings.

Over the years that Helen has been working in Ruamrudee, she has done numerous community service projects with her high school students. To view some of those projects, click here.

Now we are on to the third member of this trio of friends – Cynthia.

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