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Local Filipino woman wins scholarship
A local Filipino woman whose family was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan is getting the support she needs to start a new life in Canada. Thanks to a full scholarship, Sprott Shaw College will fully cover tuition, student fees and books for Nenita Yap, who will pursue their Health Care Assistant diploma program.
Last November, while Yap was working in Surrey under the Live-in Caregiver Program, Tyhoon Haiyan hit her hometown in the Philippines. She lost 10 family members, including her mother and sister. All the family’s personal belongings were destroyed too. The family of one of Yap’s older sisters still lives in a tent.
“This scholarship means a lot to me and my family,” says Yap, whose 13-year-old daughter and 16-year-old orphan niece hope to join her in Canada. “The money that I would have appropriated for my tuition fees can now help rebuild our family home and give my siblings’ families the starting capital for an income-generating business that will enable them to be self-sufficient,” says Yap.
Sprott Shaw College invited Filipinos living in B.C. to submit essays detailing their experiences around Typhoon Haiyan, and Yap submitted the winning essay. In it, she detailed her family’s experiences, and explained how the scholarship would help improve her and their lives. Yap received the scholarship from Patrick Dang, president of Sprott Shaw College, at the Philippine Consulate in Vancouver on Monday, June 30, 2014.
“We’re honoured to have the opportunity to support Nenita, who has worked so hard and cared so much for her family, despite all odds,” says Dang. “Sprott Shaw strives to be a strong partner to Nenita, and to the Filipino community in B.C. and abroad.”
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