I’m lucky to have been born as a healthy and normal baby, despite being two months premature when my mother gave birth to me. However, when I was a young girl, aged 4 or 5, I fell into a deep open well. It took a long time for me to be rescued. Afterwards, in the clean-up of my ear, my eardrum was damaged and I became extremely hard of hearing.

 

During my elementary school days, I enjoyed my life as a student and strived to study hard and to complete my schooling. I was in grade six when my classmates started teasing me and called me “Bungol” or “Deaf”. I was devastated by their words but eventually learned to ignore them. On my graduation day I was so happy to receive a special award for being “Most industrious.”

 

After high school, when I was 17, my father took me to Cavite province in Luzon, where one of his brothers lived. He promised to send me to college there. However, a few months later, I contracted tuberculosis and so my father brought me back to Negros Island. I was very sad and downcast. Back in my village, I underwent treatment for TB. At that time, I found a job in a small sewing shop in my neighbourhood. I did embroidery and seaming and was paid per piece. The fee didn’t amount to much but I was thankful to be earning each week, which enabled me to contribute to the family’s income.

 

In 1994, I was finally able to enroll in college. My father fulfilled his promise to send me to college but his support lasted for just 2 years, as the company which he worked for went bankrupt and closed down. Thankfully my brother Jojit, who was the principal of an elementary school in another town, was happy to support my continued schooling. He wanted me to study Education but I was keen to study Commerce and he agreed to that. 

 

I found it very hard to keep up with my course as I couldn’t hear what the teacher was saying, nor join in discussions. It was a disadvantage especially during exams, as I didn’t know what questions I needed to answer. Despite falling behind, I always reminded myself of the saying “Better late than never”.  I studied hard to finish my schooling. For most of the time during my college days, I spent my spare time in the library, working and working my assignments off, as I didn’t have sufficient spare money for photocopying, in order to take work home. I had nothing more than my pocket money. It made life very difficult.  I’m so grateful for my friend Pamela, who always shared her food with me, knowing that I had nothing in exchange. She was like a sister to me. Thankfully, I graduated from college in 1998 with flying colors. I had a degree in Commerce with a major in data processing. Without my brother’s help, I would never have been able to reach my goals. My brother Jojit was a big support in my life.

 

In March 1999, a year after I graduated, I heard from a neighbor, who happened to be a PSHF loan recipient, that the PSHF were looking for a part-time staff, specifically to encode things into the computer. One day on March 27th, 1999, right on my 25th birthday, PSHF founder Richard Foster himself came to my parent's house. After a short interview, he hired me and told me to report for work the following Monday! (It was Saturday when he came to my village.) I was nervous when I first entered the PSHF office in Bacolod, it was an entirely mesmerizing journey and new experience for me. Bernie Gampay, the office co-ordinator, was a wonderful person to learn from. As the days went by, I was able to adjust and develop confidence in doing my job. 

 

I then entered a new chapter in my life, with a relationship that led me into married life, 3 years after I had joined the PSHF. As a married woman, I needed to divide my time between work and being a wife. I lived a simple lifestyle and for a while everything was just flowing smoothly… until a couple of episodes when my husband and I were not on good terms and I was blamed for losing a child. I had three miscarriages. Life must go on despite misunderstandings, but the darkness of my life came to feel like living a nightmare. It was a shock to find myself feeling at a dead end, after almost 7 years of being a married couple. One day I left the house without seeing my husband or letting him know. I now face the consequences of that in my life and stand alone by myself, without the help of my family.

 

The most painful experience in my life was when I received the terrible news that my brother Jojit had been shot to death. Shortly before it happened, he had been in our home talking to my mother about his personal problem in school. When I got a sudden call from my brother-in-law, I rushed to get out from the SSS office, stepping out with a heavy heart, walking and praying all the way to the hospital for my brother’s life to be saved. One of the hospital staff, who noticed me restless and sweating, asked “Who are you looking for?” When he told me that my brother’s body had been taken to the Saint Peter Funeral Home, I couldn’t control myself, and cried as I walked back to the office, with heavy feet, in very hot weather. 

 

Another sad event over the last five years was when my sister told me that our mother had been brought to the hospital. I rushed to reach the emergency room, where I saw my mother lying in the hospital bed, incubated and unconscious. My chest was heavy and I felt unable to think straight. When my sister told me that our mother was very close to death, I was speechless and in shock. I tried to control myself from crying but the tears in my eyes started falling.  Before my mother died, I whispered in her ear, saying “Please accept God as the center in your heart and don’t worry about my siblings and your grandchildren, as I shall look after them”. A teardrop formed in her eyes and I knew that she was happy to hear my words about God. My mother and brother have been God’s greatest gifts to me. I never forget them and the memories of them will always remain in my heart.

 

Time flies fast, and I have now been with the PSHF for 25 years, starting as an encoder and going on to become an office administrator. I am most thankful to Richard for his trust and the opportunity he has given me, without his good will I do not know what would have happened to me. He has not only benefitted me as his employee but also influenced the person who I am today. I give my gratitude towards him”

 

Sherry Cataluna

 

Postcript: I was happy to reconnect with my friend Pamela at a class reunion in 2016. Since then we have been keeping in touch on Facebook.