Today meet Jhoan, one of our fantastic Diamond Team leaders. You might have spotted some of her great artwork at the latest Guhit Kulay exhibition last December 2019. Jhoan is from the Philippines and moved to Hong Kong 4 years ago. She has two siblings back home.
“I moved to Hong Kong to escape a bad relationship. I first had to live in my cousin’s house whilst preparing for this new start. Moving here was a way out and a new opportunity.
I work here as a domestic helper for a local family of 4, with 2 adults and 2 kids. They’re nice and very supportive of what I do, in terms of my spare time activities and hobbies. The one thing that was hard to adjust to was the workload. During my days off I like doing photography and I also do sketches and drawing, it’s my way of relaxing.
I found out about Uplifters whilst browsing the internet. I joined the course because it’s not just a free money management course but it’s also a personal growth course. That really appealed to me. Uplifters gave me the confidence to do things I was too shy to do before, it dared me to dream bigger. If I had to pick an image to illustrate my life before Uplifters It would be a caterpillar. After Uplifters, I became a butterfly. A butterfly because it represents change, hope and new life.
Being a team leader has given me the opportunity to develop friendships online. I’ve also become more understanding of other people’s lives and their struggles. I enjoy watching the students complete the challenges and getting their certificate. It feels particularly great hearing them say afterwards that the course helped them and changed their way of handling their hard-earned money.
My dream is to work as a full-time photographer, travel the world and get paid for what I do! I really look up to friends who’ve given up their job and are working full time as a photographer, doing what they love.
When I feel low, I take a break and pause for a couple of minutes and ask myself why I feel this way, and sometimes I remove myself from the situation and go out by myself for a little while. The motto that keeps me going is “Nothing is permanent. Don’t stress yourself out too much because no matter how bad the situation is, it will change. Your struggle is just a preparation for a better you.”
Thank you Jhoan!
Jhoan is one of our Diamond team leaders who’s facilitated 10 sessions of “Dare to Dream”, Uplifters 3-week signature online course on money management and personal growth.
To sign up to Uplifters’ Dare to Dream course, like our Facebook page and click ‘Send Message’.
The most efficient way to support our work is to become a monthly donor, with only USD 10 (HKD 80) a month, you sponsor 1 hour of online money management and personal development course for a woman like Jhoan: donate.
