PASA PINOY SEPTEMBER 2014

PLANET PHILIPPINES
8
PASA PINOY
Columns
Living with Magnificent Castles in Bucharest, Romania
Jenetta Abenido Alambra
I
t is truly a privilege to write this column as it gives me
a great opportunity to converse with Filipinos residing
or working all over the world. This month, I have the
pleasure to exchange emails with Jenetta, who resides
in the country of Romania. Jenetta is a living proof of
many of us, Filipinos, who follow our dreams; even if
it means that we have to live on the other side of the
earth, away from our families.
Jenetta came to Romania in 2009, and is currently
living in the city capital of Bucharest. She lived in
Singapore for 9 years prior to coming to Romania. Armed
with strong will, undying faith and love of family, Jenetta
has learned to be a happy and positive support not only
to her own family, but also to other Filipinos in her host
country throughout her journey as an overseas Filipino
worker.
As one of the pioneering leaders of the Filipino
Community in Romania, Jenetta takes pride on being
part of building a Filipino community in Romania. Just
recently, her group was given an opportunity to showcase
Filipino culture and tradition at a local Festival in Brasov,
Romania. She reports it was a real success, most of
the local residents were amazed by our performances of
Filipino folk dances. It was just a proud moment for all of us to display
our culture. She added that slowly but surely, the Filipino community
in Romania is getting exposure in the mainstream. In one of their
events, Summer Beauty, the group invited a local TV journalist Mr.
BogdanMusgoci from Neptun TV.
Jenetta recalls that whenever there is an opportunity to gather
with other Filipinos in Romania, they always take the time to share
with each other stories about their families, work and employers. She
said that most Filipinos in Romania work as nannies or housekeepers.
There are more female than male OFWs in her area. She said that
there are Filipinos working in hotels and restaurants, and there are
also Filipinos who are in Romania because they were married to
Romanian nationals. She also knew about Filipino Au Pairs in her area.
According to Jenetta, working in Romania is a bit tough for most of
us, we work long hours, but my employers are very nice to me. They
treat me as a family member. That is why, I dont really complain about
working longer hours. I learned to love what I do for them. I treat their
children like mine. My employers adhere to the nature of the work that
we agreed in the contract. Jenetta explained that sometimes she
does things around the house, even if she is not asked to. She said
that for all the good things that her employers do for her, she does not
really mind doing extra work for them. She shared what she believes in
life, I have learned that it does not make any difference anywhere we
are, we will always be who we as if we live in our own country.
Jenetta shared that not all Filipinos working in Romania is as
blessed as she is, with good-natured employers. She recalled having
contact with one Filipino who reported that she was not treated
nicely by her employer. Jenetta said that she and other Filipinos has
showered that distressed Filipino with encouragement and moral
support. Jenetta said that the last word she got from her Filipino friend
was that she is now happily working with a new employer.
Bucharest offers a lot of exciting experiences for Jenetta. There are
a variety of activities that other Filipinos do as a community. Jenetta
said that they organize picnics, they hang out together in the mall,
they go to church every third Sunday of the month and
there are other social gatherings that they enjoy. She
said that Romanian citizens are very much impressed by
Filipinos. Her employers told her that they like Filipinos
because they are trustworthy, caring, hardworking and
cheerful people. Jenetta said that employers in Romania
do not enforce Filipinos to speak their native tongue of
Romanesc. English is very well accepted by employer
households.
The rich cultural history of Romania always
fascinates Jenetta. She said that she has seen the nicest
and biggest castle in Romania, The Peles Castle. She
said that Bucharest is the best place to live in Romania
because Filipinos live here and every day-off I can get
the chance to be with them. Two of the popular tourist
destinations here in Romania are the cities of Brasov
and Bran, the later traces the legend of Dracula and his
castle, The Bran Castle.
Jenetta has only one child in the Philippines, and she
is a proud grandmother of two grandchildren. She reports
that she has been working for almost 14 years now as
an OFW. She said I really missed my family, but I have
to be strong and do what I need to do. To the Filipinos
in Romania, Jenetta has her message: Lets keep being strong, proud
of our race, promote that loving and caring individuals in us, always
guarded by our own basic right as human beings, not only in Romania
but anywhere else in this world, keeping humility within us and staying
with our Holy Father in Heaven to keep our lives going.
Jenetta looks forward in strengthening the Filipino community
in Romania. She thanks this writer for finding and featuring her in
this column so she could reach out to more Filipinos in Romania.
One of the biggest plans that she wants to happen sooner is a
project that will connect all the Filipinos in Romania, and maybe
in the neighboring countries, and that is a newsletter. (This writer
is partnering with the Filipino Community in Romania to start a
newsletter by September, 2014.) Mabuhay ang mga Pilipino sa
Romania!
*About the Columnist: Ryan Tejero is a newspaper columnist-writer based in
Chicago, Illinois-USA. He has been writing for a Filipino-American newsmagazine,
Via Times (www.viatimes.com), for over ten years now. His monthly column,
Club President, features leaders of
the Filipino American communities
in Chicago and the Midwest, USA.
Via Times is Chicagos oldest, widely-
read and circulated Filipino-American
newsmagazine. Ryan is also the current
editor of NaFFAA National (http://
naffaa-national.org), which is the offcial
monthly newsletter of the National
Federation of Filipino American
Associations (NaFFAA). NaFFAA
National is circulated in 51 states of
the United States. The column Filipino
Spotted on the Map was launched in
May 2014 in Melbourne, Australia
through PasaPinoy Melbourne
Edition.
Spotted on the
FILIPINO
MAP
Ryan Tejero*
TFCR oath taking
Jenetta in sinaia at Peles castle