Together again
Filipina mom overjoyed bringing long-separated sons to her Cape Breton home
Having her two boys by her side is a dream come true for Ruby de Loyola.
After all, prior to a trip home to her native Philippines last month, the 38-year-old Sydney resident had not seen teenage sons Jaden and Cyrille for almost five years.
Now they’re living together in Cape Breton.
“I’m very, very happy — now we are reunited,” said de Loyola, who moved to the East Coast two years ago after meeting her Sydney-raised husband in Edmonton.
“We wanted this for so long and now we are together — I want us to be together and for them to have a better life with more opportunities than they can have in the Philippines.”
For de Loyola, it was her quest for a better life for herself and her children that first took her away from the archipelagic Southeast Asian country of more than 100 million people, a staggering 10 per cent of whom work overseas.
Prior to arriving in Canada four years ago, de Loyola, who is a nurse by trade, had spent time working in Singapore and Hong Kong. All the while she sent money home to the relatives taking care of her sons in Manila, a congested metropolitan area of some 13 million people, known for its low wages, high unemployment, poor working conditions, savings-depleting income tax, high cost of living and rising crime rate.
And, that’s just some of the human-influenced factors that affect life in the Philippines. Reinsurance giant Swiss Re has ranked Manila as the world’s second-riskiest capital city, after Tokyo, in which to live due to its exposure to natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons and floods. The Philippines capital is also very polluted, with 98 per cent of the metro area’s populace said to be affected.
But a week after moving halfway around the world, logical thoughts of a better life are not foremost in the minds of Jaden, 16, or his 15-year-old brother Cyrille. Having never been outside of their native country, it would certainly be an understatement to suggest that the boys might be a bit overwhelmed.
“It’s cold, it’s cold,” says Jaden, whose initial shyness leads only to short and quick answers when asked of his first thoughts on moving to Canada.
Even though he speaks English, along with Tagalog and some Mandarin, Jaden opens up when encouraged to answer in his native tongue.
“I’m fine, it’s new, but I am now finding my way around the neighbourhood — but it’s still too cold,” he says, shivering at the memory of shooting a few baskets over the Easter weekend at an outdoor court in the crisp Cape Breton air.
Like his older brother, Cyrille is shy and is also still somewhat bewildered by the enormous change in his life. And, he’s is also having difficulty adjusting to the weather. After all, the temperature in the Philippines very rarely falls below 20 C and
its year-long average daily high is over 30 C. So, while longtime Cape Bretoners may be extolling the virtues of the mild spring, the two young Filipinos find the climate to be on the cool side. And, prior to their arrival, they had never before experienced snow.
However, the weather doesn’t stop the energetic teenager from wearing shorts around the house. And, when invited outside to show off his athleticism, it didn’t take Cyrille long to provide the backyard entertainment as he amazed those around with a series of acrobatic flips.
Yet, like his brother, Cyrille becomes shy and reserved when asked if he’s excited to enrol in the local school system.
“No, yes, no, I don’t know,” he says, in a manner typical of a 15-year-old boy.
His mother then intervenes. “They will be going to school, but we want them to become more settled before they go — It will be good for them to be involved socially so they know what to expect,” said de Loyola.
The brothers won’t be lacking for support or encouragement. Their mother’s bubbly personality has led to many
friendships, while there is a growing Filipino population in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. And, de Loyola’s husband, Chris Abbass, was born and raised in Sydney and has deep roots in Cape Breton.
“Look, we know there will be challenges, it’s all not going to be smooth and easy, but things are going to be OK, we’ll do everything we can to help the boys adjust to life over here — hey, I was a teenager once, I know what it was like and I can only imagine what it’s like to move to a place so different,” said Abbass.
“But their mother has worked really hard to make a better life for them, so it will pay off in the end — there’ll be tough times for all of us, but we’re ready and we’ll do what we have to do.”
For her part, de Loyola, even though married to a Canadian, applied for and eventually received her permanent resident status on her own after arriving in Canada on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Now employed as a housekeeper with the Nova Scotia Health Authority, she plans a return to school to upgrade her nursing status.
As for the boys, the world is their oyster. Jaden has already professed an interest in computers, while Cyrille says he’s not sure what he wants to do when he grows up.
“They will be fine, it will take time to settle, but they will be fine — I am just so happy we are together, that’s the best part,” said de Loyola.