I am Tom Avendano, born in 1929 so than means I am 79 now going on 80, in a small town of Dao Capiz, Roxas City, Philippines. I grew up in many places. I grew up in a barrio which is about 15 kilometers from the town, so I am a mountain boy. I never had a nice time in my schooling because I had to go to school at 5 o’clock in the morning and reach my school at 7 o’clock and then came home again so everyday I had to travel 15 going and 15 coming back or a total of 30 kilometres, a lot of travel for a small boy like me. But that was a life that until now has a good memories for me and I like that. I was living with my parents and my parents were also farmers was also involved in working in the farm with them
I was a working student all my life, all the way because my parents very poor. We struggled, all of us, to sell some goods in the market to survive. But then fate has driven us maybe to where we are destined to be. So I went to Manila to study, self-study, as a working student. I studied at night. I worked as a cleaner in the church, also sometimes assisting in the sanctuary as a sacristan; from there I graduated from college.
I had so many people that influenced my life. Of course my parents were really good people. Although not wealthy enough to support us, they guided us and this is what I remember of my dad. My dad died here in Canada at the age of 99. My Mom also died here in Canada. I lived with them for a long time here in Canada.
Before we moved to Canada, my life changed so much in Manila. I became a teacher, a professor, a lecturer and a politician. I entered politics with the help of my friends, especially the Church people. My intention was to reform the “sin city” of Pasay which was full of prostitution houses and all vices, but then when I was elected I found out I was alone fighting the vices. But I did not give up. I stayed for almost for 12 years in office and the people supported me although I was poorest of candidates. I struggled hard to make the difference but I am afraid I was not able to make that difference at all because the people continued and, as of now, you and I can witness that there are very little changes in the Philippines, if any. So we went to Canada.
My parents were here already. My brothers and sisters were also here. If you ask me to reflect on my life 26 years ago, there was no help at all. It was as if you are thrown from the airplane down to a place where you know no one and nobody talks to you. You needed support and comfort of people but there was none. And this is one of the sad experiences I had and this is one of the reasons why I thought of establishing an association that can help immigrants because I did not want them to suffer as I had.
The most challenging thing for new immigrants is the settlement because when the new immigrant arrives, he needs someone to talk to, to advice him. He needs somebody to guide him because it is a new country and you don’t know anybody, especially when you have very little English. So there are many things that challenge new immigrants. New immigrants today are the luckiest people because the service is there to help them, some of which the government provides through the Multicultural Helping House, giving us funding to serve what the community needs. You will find that the Multicultural Helping House, which is located at 4802 Fraser Street at 32nd Avenue, is standing tall although small but it serves the needs of the community. We have established this, we have built this through our sweat, the contributions of the Filipino community, from help of government and help of those truly sympathetic to immigrant people like me.
The Helping House was originally named Filipino Canadian Support Services. It started from the fact that during that time a crisis was happening every month, from caregivers to suicides, problems cropping up in the Filipino community. A family of 8 started this in 1995 and we grew very fast. In 1996, we incorporated this as an non-profit organization. In 2001, we grew faster because so many new immigrants were coming from 2001 to the present. We changed our name to Helping House instead of FCSS. From there, we applied for our charitable number and we got help from the provincial government and we were a recipient of matching type funding. In 3 weeks time, we raised $125,000 and we received $125, 00 so we bought this lot. We mortgaged the property for building and this is how we are now. It is not easy to build a centre. Much more it is not easy to build a community.
This is not mine. This building is founded out of love; it started out of love and is growing with love. And this maybe this is the lasting memory that I will have in my life: building this community, building friendship with the multicultural community because we have widened our friendship with the multicultural community. We are lucky and happy here doing volunteer work. I have been a volunteer since I arrived. As they say, once a volunteer, always a volunteer. At the age of 80, you retire when you are dead and I accept that.
We do not only help those who are in need of jobs; we also help those in grief, whose parents dying or are in hospital. We even help bury the dead. And all these make me even stronger. I am morally obliged to pay back to the community, the people.
My vision for the community is that all immigrants may enjoy equally the happiness enjoyed by every Canadian. Make them happy, in short. Be happy in the country you choose to live in. In order to achieve, you must have complete help from your neighbour, anybody around you. We at the Helping House will devote our time to make that happen.
I am asking myself, what have I done that there is so much outpouring of love and respect that I get everywhere I go. The answer is: I have the same attitude towards them. I am warm with everyone and very caring for the aged and those who are in need, especially those sick in hospital. I am very much involved in caring for the sick. One of our clients who was a cancer patient died with no relative. I took charge like a father, sending the ashes to the Philippines and arranging the funeral in Vancouver, felt like I lost a daughter. With all my heart I feel it is better to help than to be helped. Things spread like fire, a good deed best spreads throughout community. People say, “There is a good man”. I am satisfied with that.