Sophia Tahanan: Where the Broken and Lost Found a Home
By: Coach Joanne Taeza Pamittan
Sabi nila, “There is no place like home, our beloved Philippines.” But, what if kailangan naming lumayo? What if circumstances led us away? What if wala kaming choice kundi ang manirahan sa ibang bansa. Where can we find HOME?
As of 2020, the Philippine Statistics Office reported that 1.77 million Filipinos are in the diaspora. Out of this number, more than 150,000 are in France. There is a misconception kung kumusta ba talaga ang buhay dito. Some would say, “Wow! Buti ka pa. Ang sarap siguro ng buhay niyo diyan,” or, “Sana all. Siguro andami mo ng ipon.” Many people think that living in a first-world country is amazing. But the truth is, ang bawat ngiti ay may kalakip na hirap at sakripisyo ng mga taong nangarap para sa kanilang mga mahal sa buhay.
Living in France is not easy. We, the "diaspinoy", face many struggles of different kinds. Nandiyan yung language barrier, culture shock, feeling unsettled and lost, or racial discrimination. Most of us have difficulty adjusting to the work culture. Yung tipong you have no choice but to be a housekeeper, babysitter, caregiver, yacht worker and the like, dahil hindi accredited ang Philippine diploma mo. And the most heart-breaking? Majority of us left the Philippines especially our loved ones without knowing kung kailan makakabalik muli. Ilang mga magulang ang nagtitiis na hindi mahagkan ang kanilang mga anak? Ilang mga anak ang hindi nakakauwi para sa kanilang mga magulang? Ilang mga mag-asawa ang hindi magkasama sa mahabang panahon? How long do they have to wait? A minimum of 5 years and a maximum of a decade or even more.
Because of every heartache, sacrifice, and homesickness, we, the people in Bread of Life French Riviera, had to be resilient and find a place where we could have a family not by blood but by heart and spirit. That is what we are blessed to have - a special kind of kinship cultivated in a place we call Sophia Tahanan. Sophia Tahanan is located in Sophia Antipolis, Europe's first science and technology hub and the country's Silicon Valley. It is, indeed, the place where we found "Home".
Truly, God’s timing is always the perfect. Bread of Life French Riviera moved to Sophia on August 2019, just few months before the Covid-19 pandemic. Sophia is the product of “Dulog, Tangis, at Tangan” mula sa isang binhi, our lifecoach, Coach Raul “Boyet” Tordecilla - someone who became a father, mentor and friend, someone who carried the burden para sa bawat OFW na nangungulila, para sa mga Pilipinong dumadaan sa matitinding pagsubok, para sa mga naliligaw ng landas, at higit sa lahat, para sa mga sirang pamilya. Nabuo sa isang pangarap na sana we could find a place we can call our own, a place that will bring honor and pride to the Filipinos, a place where we will find our identity as a person, a Filipino, and a child of God, a place where we will learn to journey with faith, hope and love, a place where we will find peace, joy, and purpose, and a place where the broken and lost will be made whole again.
As Sophia Antipolis means "Divine Wisdom", it is where we find hope and nurture a million dreams. Nabuksan ang bawat mata that we are created in the image and likeness of God and someday we will rise and soar like an eagle. In the generations to come, hindi na basahan ang ipapasa sa mga anak kundi ang pangarap na iangat ang lahing Pilipino.
Filipinos in Diaspora Source: https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/survey/labor-and-employment/survey-overseas-filipinos
