An Experience of Growth

f rose 01 Sr. Maria Lucia and RoseThe Kasambahay Human Development program is a training course offered by the University of Saint Paul in Dumaguete. This year it is celebrating its tenth anniversary. The program lasts one year, and classes are held every Sunday afternoon (sometimes all day long), and occasionally for an entire weekend. Its purpose is to improve the skills of people working in the care of all aspects housekeeping – cooking, cleaning, laundry, and so forth. Often, these workers live in the home of their employers.

Their salaries frequently are very low because as the laws regulating such employment are scarce. For this reason, the course also provides more information to employees, making them more aware of their legal and social rights.

At any rate, our local community thought this course could be an opportunity for our home helper, Rose, to increase her knowledge and skills. This is her experience:

I am Rosemarie Nocete, of Mabinay, a town near Dumaguete, I have been working in the Convent of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor for about five years. I take care of cleaning the rooms, making dinner when needed and feeding the poultry we have at home.

Sr. Francesca Vitulano with RoseThis year the Sisters encouraged me to take a professional course offered by the University of Saint Paul aimed at improving my work. It was a wonderful experience, and I was able to compare myself with colleagues who work elsewhere, learn new techniques -- especially in the kitchen – and also to set the table in a more elegant way.

All this helped improve my self-confidence and made me feel that what I do adds value to the living experience of my employers. I learned that my fellow students’ employers deducted money from their salaries for the hours they spent at school. Yet Sr. Francesca Atorino and Sr. Francesca Vitulano encouraged me to participate in the course and did not deduct any money from my salary.

It seems that the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor is deeply convinced that training at all levels adds value to their employees; thus, the training also benefited them.

At the end of the course, Saint Paul University held a big party for the graduates, and both I and Sr. Francesca V. were asked to share our experiences so that other employers might learn to be more generous towards their employees. I am deeply grateful to the Congregation, and also to Sr. Licia and Sr. Marvi, who were always very attentive to me every time they visited the Sisters in Dumaguete. They also encouraged -- and allowed – me to participate in the course.

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