Salvacion ‘ Sylvia’ Atay
Persistence and patience: How Sylvia Atay uprooted her life in the Philippines to build a new life in Canada
Written by: Yasmin Jaswal
Perseverance and patience are the two things that have helped Sylvia Atay overcome the many challenges she’s faced in her life, whether it was leaving home for the first time when she was just nine years old, or moving to the other side of the world to start a new life on her own.
"You have to be persistent in order to get what you want," she says, adding that growing up, her family often told her she was hard-headed due to her fierce persistence. She doesn’t see a problem with that term though. After all, it’s what helped her get to where she is today.
Trading farm fields for education and opportunity
Atay grew up in the municipality of Vintar, located in the Philippine province of Ilocos Norte. She was born into a farming family and that meant that from an early age, she was up early working on the fields.
She remembers a pivotal moment in her childhood where she told her father she didn’t want to be a farmer and wanted to study instead. Her father wasn’t supportive of the idea. But still, Atay persisted.
Her life was uprooted when she was sent to a neighbouring village as a nine-year-old to help take care of her sister’s young children while also attending school. She didn’t know it then, but this would be the first of a few major moves in her lifetime.
After six years, Atay graduated high school. Instead of going back home to the farm, she headed to the country’s capital, Manila, where she studied nursing and later began practicing as a registered nurse.
Atay enjoyed her work, but the pay was not ideal. She knew there were better opportunities abroad, and in 1981, she became a domestic worker in Hong Kong.
After about a year of doing cleaning-type duties, Atay was ready for a new adventure. That’s when she started researching opportunities in Canada.
Embracing a new beginning in Canada
Atay applied to an agency that was recruiting domestic workers to come
to Canada.
“It's like a stepping stone to Canada,” she says. “Domestic help was the fastest way to come to Canada and during those times it was very easy to apply.”
It wasn’t long before Atay was once again boarding a plane—this time destined for Vancouver. She reached Vancouver International Airport in September of 1982 and can still describe the feeling she got when she landed.
“It's like there was always a thorn in my chest. When I landed, it's more like [the thorn] came out.”
After landing, she took a bus almost 15 more hours to Calgary, where she’s remained for the last 40 years.
“ It's like a stepping stone to Canada,” she says. “Domestic help was the fastest way to come to Canada and during those times it was very easy to apply. ”
A community formed from all walks of life
Initially, Atay stayed very close to her employers. But after three months, they encouraged her to build other relationships. She says at first, she did not want to go out and meet people, adding that she is more of an introvert. However, after some persistence from her employer, she started her search. Almost immediately, she met another Filipina in her neighbourhood and the pair became fast friends.
This new friendship led to Atay spending every other weekend at different events put on by the Filipino association in the city and meeting more people - Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike.
“In the Filipino association, there were different kinds of people also coming in, like those that married into other cultures,” Atay says.
While she was able to enjoy certain aspects of the culture from home, these meetings gave her the opportunity to grow her network and meet and learn from people of all kinds. Atay welcomed these chances to learn more about the others around her who made up the country she had started calling home.
“Learning different cultures is fun. It's kind of nice to me because this is a diverse country, so we had to learn more about different cultures and people at that time.”
“ Learning different cultures is fun. It's kind of nice to me because this is a diverse country, so we had to learn more about different cultures and people at that time.”
Career pivots
After a few years of working for the family that hired her, Atay was ready for a career change. She hoped to go back to nursing, but at the time, she was raising a young family and her husband convinced her to go down a different path.
The couple managed a Mac’s convenience store (now known as Circle K), where Atay worked for many years. However, the desire to return to her original career persisted and she decided to go back to school to become a nurse in 2003.
As she had already been trained and practiced in the Philippines, she easily scored high marks in all her courses. Unfortunately, she faced a major hurdle when it came to completing her practicum.
“When I took my practicum, my preceptor was very racist,” Atay recalls. The issue involved hours and practicum locations, but Atay says instead of working with her to find a solution, her preceptor terminated her. When she challenged the decision, she was told she would need to complete three months of full-time practicum work.
“I couldn't do that because I didn't have time,” Atay says. She still had to manage the Mac’s and take care of her family. She admits that at the time, her relationship with her husband wasn’t on the best terms as he had not supported her decision to go back to nursing. “So I said, ‘Forget about it.’ Then in early 2007, I challenged the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) exam. I was so lucky at that time. I passed and I'm working as an LPN right now.”
While the experience was difficult, Atay doesn’t let it get her down.
“It's always a learning thing, even though you think you know everything,” she says. “Every day it's a learning process. For us, it's always a challenge that comes around. It’s not all a bed of roses. Sometimes in the workplace you have to adjust to everything that your employer wants you to do. But then if it's not right for you, you have to tell your opinion.”
Finding her
forever home
When it comes to where home is, Atay is firm.
“Calgary is my base place. I love Calgary, so I don't think I can go anywhere else,” she says. “I think I'm rooted to Calgary already. It's like the tree is growing.”
That doesn’t mean she’s lost her sense of adventure. Atay is still very willing to travel for holidays, including visits to the Philippines, which can be rejuvenating for her.
“I think it has to do with the weather and the sunshine, but people just feel so happy over there, even though they have nothing,” she says. “Here, it can be depressing sometimes. So going back, It helps me, especially the weather. So when I come back, I feel much better.”
“ Calgary is my base place. I love Calgary, so I don't think I can go anywhere else,” she says. “I think I'm rooted to Calgary already. It's like the tree is growing. ”
Maintaining culture and identity through different generations
Calgary is the home she has created for herself, and in turn, her family. And she’s made sure to be open to all cultures, not just her own. But that doesn’t mean she has forgotten her Filipino heritage—nor will she let newer generations of her family forget it, either.
“My granddaughter needs to know my background and also our culture,” Atay says. “Instilling the culture ensures it doesn't go away. And when she grows older, she can tell, ‘This is where I came from.’”
Atay sees her granddaughter weekly and tries to impart some cultural knowledge with every visit. Her granddaughter is still quite young, so she’s starting small by speaking in Tagalog and Ilicano and having her granddaughter repeat the words back to her.
“She's very smart and she can pronounce it correctly, nicely,” Atay boasts, clearly proud of the youngest generation of her family tree.
This practice didn’t start with her granddaughter. Atay married outside of her own culture, so she worked to ensure her daughters heard the languages, experienced the culture and learned the history of the Philippines while they were growing up.
She’s doing what she can to ensure the Filipino part of the next generations’ identities are known.
When it comes to her own identity, she says, “I'm a mix. I'm more of a diverse area now. I'm a Filipino—I'm born in the Philippines. But I'm a Canadian citizen now. But then we are all interconnected with each other, no matter what culture or country you came from. That's what I think about myself.”
“ My granddaughter needs to know my background and also our culture,” Atay says. “Instilling the culture ensures it doesn't go away. And when she grows older, she can tell, ‘ This is where I came from.’ ”
Persistence pays off
Atay has faced adversity throughout her life, both as a child in the Philippines with dreams of escaping the farm life and as a first generation Canadian trying to create a life for herself and her family.
She looks at all of her life challenges as lessons. And some of those lessons are worth sharing with others, especially new Canadians.
She admits that coming to Canada is not easy—especially for those trying to come to the country now. But Atay advises new Canadians to remember their reasons for coming to Canada in the first place.
“There's more opportunities here. More chances of changing your career. It's a better future here in Canada and that’s probably why some people are still trying to get their families to come here,” she says. “Every journey to Canada has individual differences. Some people come here for work, others for adventure, some for both—just like me. It is an adventure.”
She has three main pieces of advice for anyone trying to build a home in Canada:
“They have to persevere in their dreams to come here to Canada and not let go. Persistence. Patience. And be kind to yourself also. Sometimes, we have those turmoils in our system, but you should be kind to yourself mostly.”
“Life has to go on like it's just a river. You put your hands in the river, it flows again and it never comes back. So go forward,” she says.
“No regrets. Ever.”
“ Life has to go on like it's just a river. You put your hands in the river. it flows again and it never comes back. So go forward.
No regrets. ever.”
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