CHRONICLING PINOY TEACHERS

I was delighted to read an inq7.net blog story on Fil-Am filmmaker Ramona Diaz's latest project. After her successful and critically acclaimed docu "Imelda", Diaz is reportedly near finishing a chronicle of Filipino teachers in the Baltimore area.

I've heard about her work from Marisol Angala of the Pinoy Teachers Network. Marisol was a noted "sp-ed" (special education) teacher in Manila before she moved with her young family to Washington DC.

But I knew her as that pretty, soft-haired lady who frequented the ABS-CBN Newsroom (usually straying no farther than the reception area), to fetch her husband Rainier, a field producer for one of the network's microwave newsgathering vans. We first bumbed into each other here at a Target outlet in Crystal City last year; I've since then seen more of Marisol during functions at the Philippine Embassy.

The Pinoy Teachers Network is a relatively new organization. I'm not sure, but I think it's based in Marisol's living room in her Downtown DC loft. It's that new. Which is not to say it hasn't already left a deep mark in the Pinoy community here. I see the Pinoy Teachers Network as a reflection of its members -- young, dynamic and idealistic. I was deeply impressed by what they were doing and more importantly, what they aim to do.

I heard about that teacher pushed to suicide by her depression -- a fatal brew of isolation, culture shock and a shattered relationship. Having arrived to work here just a little over a year ago, she had no one to help her except friends in the Pinoy Teachers Network who arranged to collect her body at the police morgue (where it was held for several weeks for an inquest) and fly it back to Manila.

They are briefed in Manila on what to expect here, but Marisol pointed out, that is always never enough. I've heard of two incidents of students assaulting their Pinoy teachers; both reportedly involving students barely in their teens. Many of the new teachers are posted in "challenged schools" -- places too dangerous or difficult they have to recruit non-Americans to fill vacancies. Newcomers also have to contend with the rigors of adjustment, homesickness, separation from friends and family, the weather -- starting life over in a foreign land.

That's why, Marisol explained, groups like the Pinoy Teachers Network are veritable "lifelines". They're not a social club, rather an important tool for survival. They gain strength from being together, from sharing their experiences and their dreams.

There are several hundred Pinoy teachers spread out in DC and Maryland. Their numbers swell in the hundreds every year since about 2005. Those that I've spoken with, confess a tinge of guilt at leaving the Motherland. But they had no choice. They went here for economic reasons.

The Pinoy Teachers Network recognizes that innate patriotism among teachers here. Marisol said they're already laying down projects to help colleagues left behind. When last we talked, everything was all still up in the air. That may include recognition and even some assistance for outstanding Pinoy teachers back home.

They're also toying with the concept of "reverse migration". Paving the way for the most experienced teachers to go back, spend some time teaching again in the Philippines. A little richer, lot more wiser, but still inspired by the promise of the future.

I can't wait to watch Diaz's latest opus. You should be too.