Rebecca Norada
For many overseas Filipino workers, sacrifice begins with leaving home and putting family first. But for three Filipinas in Hong Kong, the journey abroad is no longer defined solely by remittances, long hours, and resilience. It is also becoming a path back to themselves—one marked by school modules, sleepless nights, and a long-deferred dream of one day wearing a toga and holding a diploma.
In a world where overseas workers are often celebrated mainly for the economic lifeline they provide, Rebecca Norada, Ludeliet Gimongala, and Rosabel Alday are quietly reshaping that narrative. They are not just breadwinners. They are students, dreamers, and women determined to reclaim ambitions that had long been set aside in the name of duty.
Their stories come into focus this International Women’s Month through a scholarship initiative led by the non-government organization Full Phils, with support from the One Meralco Foundation, PLDT-Smart Foundation, and Metro Pacific Investments Foundation.
Through the program, these women are pursuing college education while continuing to work full-time in Hong Kong—an extraordinary balancing act that speaks not only of endurance, but of hope.
For Rebecca Norada, 45, the dream has always been simple yet deeply personal: to see herself in a graduation gown, diploma in hand. Before moving to Hong Kong, she was a stay-at-home mother of two. She left home in search of a better future for her family, but even after two decades of working abroad, the vision of finishing college never faded.
Now taking up BA English Language through remote learning while working as a domestic helper, Norada faces the constant strain of managing work and academics at once. There are days marked by exhaustion, isolation, and self-doubt. Yet every challenge has also pushed her to discover strengths she once thought she did not have.
What once felt impossible—such as speaking confidently in public—has slowly become part of her growth. In pursuing her degree, she is not only working toward a diploma, but also toward a stronger sense of self.
Ludeliet Gimongala
For 37-year-old Ludeliet Gimongala, education is deeply tied to healing, purpose, and the life she has imagined for herself. Her interest in psychology grew out of a desire to understand childhood behavior and the struggles she experienced growing up.
Even before leaving for Hong Kong, she had already shown a passion for helping young people through volunteer work. Abroad, that calling found another expression as she spent years caring for children.
She once believed that returning to school was no longer possible. But a few words from a former employer changed her perspective, encouraging her not to settle and to dream beyond the boundaries of domestic work. That moment became the spark that led her back to education.
Now in her third term as a second-year psychology student, Gimongala is pressing forward with a vision that keeps her motivated: the day she can finally call herself a psychology degree holder. For her, that title is more than academic achievement. It is proof that reinvention is possible, that growth can happen even after years of sacrifice, and that dreams delayed do not have to remain dreams denied.
Rosabel Alday
Rosabel Alday’s journey is equally powerful, shaped by motherhood, responsibility, and a refusal to let hardship define her future. A single mother, she has long carried the goal of sending her daughter to college. But alongside that commitment is a dream she also holds for herself and for her own parents—to walk across a stage and receive a college diploma.
Although she had already completed a vocational course in computer technology in the Philippines, Alday moved to Hong Kong 11 years ago to earn more and support her child.
Yet she never accepted that domestic work abroad would be her final destination. Today, she is pursuing a degree in BS Business Administration major in Management Information System, rising as early as 4 a.m. to study before beginning her daily workload.
Despite fatigue and the emotional toll of working far from home, she keeps going, driven by the belief that education will give her choices, dignity, and a future beyond the limits of her contract. Each completed project, each finished module, becomes another small victory pushing her closer to a life she is building for herself.
What binds these women together is not only grit, but the determination to expand what is possible for overseas Filipinas. Their stories reflect a truth often overlooked: that while many migrant workers leave home to provide opportunity for others, they, too, deserve the chance to pursue their own aspirations.
That belief is at the heart of Full Phils, the Hong Kong-based NGO founded by Emilio Baja to help bridge the gap between overseas work and higher education. Recognizing that many Filipinas abroad remain trapped in limited career paths because of restricted access to schooling, the organization set out to create opportunities for them to finish college and open doors to better futures.
Since 2023, the scholarship initiative has supported 30 scholars through digital learning platforms designed to fit around demanding work schedules. For the women in the program, the assistance goes beyond tuition support. It is a form of validation—a reminder that their dreams still matter and that others believe in what they can become.
That belief has been life-changing. For Alday, the scholarship has eased the burden of pursuing a degree while continuing to provide for her daughter. For Norada, it has given her the freedom to focus on her studies without carrying the weight of financial uncertainty alone. For all three women, it has turned what once seemed like a distant wish into a future now within reach.
The One Meralco Foundation and its fellow partners see the effort as more than a scholarship program. It is an investment in people—in women who have long illuminated the lives of their families, often at the cost of their own aspirations. By helping them continue their education, the program is giving them the chance to shine in their own right.
In the end, these women are doing more than earning degrees. They are reclaiming identity, rebuilding confidence, and proving that no dream is too late to pursue. Across long workdays and lonely nights in Hong Kong, they are writing a new story for themselves—one in which sacrifice is no longer the end of the journey, but the beginning of something greater.