“At the time, the news was saying ‘teacher shortage’, but we thought maybe because we are not native to this country, we’re not the priority.
“But there were heaps of vacancies,” Shari said. Why weren’t they getting the jobs.
Shari spent a year applying for jobs but couldn’t land anything.
“I sent hundreds of applications without any luck, so I thought I’d stop for a while. Maybe it wasn’t my time yet, so I encouraged Armando to apply.”
The same thing happened to him.
“I got rejected too because I had no experience with NCEA or secondary background here, but I had 10 years teaching experience in the Philippines,” said Armando.
Not only does he have a decade of experience, but the pair are laden with higher education from the Philippines.
Armando has a doctorate in physics, a Bachelor of secondary education and a Master of Arts in teaching physics.
Shari has a Masters degree in mathematics and taught English as a foreign language in Auckland before moving into early childhood education.
Shari said that Armando was endlessly positive despite the rejections.
“He does science, right? He told me, ‘if there are 50 applicants, and one of those people got the job,’ there are only 49 applicants left!’”
Which makes sense when you hear Armando was born on the Filipino island of Catanduanes, given the nickname “The Happy Island”.
Then in February, Armando got a response.
Ngata Memorial College asked for an interview, and by March, he was living and teaching in Ruatoria.
“I remember when he first got the interview, I made sure to check Google maps,” said Shari.
“So when we Googled it, I thought, ‘oh my, it’s almost 10 hours away.’”
But she said, “Let’s give it a go,” and things are working out.
“Everyone at the school has been helpful and supported us since I started teaching science here. It’s new to me, the NCEA assessments, but the teamwork and unity are here, so I have no problems,” said Armando.
For Shari, this is the first high school she has worked at after being in the primary and early education sectors for years.
“It’s more challenging teaching because it’s at the secondary level. My job is learning support, so the role is different, and the ages of the students are different.”
For now, Shari helps Year 9 classes and can step in to teach English and maths if another teacher is away.
Armando had always hoped to move abroad.
“It started with a simple dream. We wanted to go overseas, and the first choice was New Zealand.”
It took three years for the whole family to come to New Zealand.
Shari resigned from her teaching job in the Philippines in 2017 and came to New Zealand to study while Armando and the children stayed.
“It’s very hard for us to come to an English-speaking country.
“So when the door opened for me to come here and study, I had to grab it because not all are given a chance.”
In 2018 Armando was granted a visa to come to New Zealand, and their two boys had to wait another year to come over.
Shari studied teaching English as a foreign language here, but in a timely twist of fate, she decided to move into early childhood teaching.
Once the borders closed and international students were kept out, this change proved a lifesaver.
While they were applying for jobs, a massive place of support for them was Life Church.
“It was a really helpful place where we could pray and pray, because we don’t have people to lean on here. We don’t have any family here, just the four of us.”
Armando and Shari said patience, determination and prayer got them through the hard times.
Now the family wants to build their relationships in the community as much as possible.
“Community is so important in Ruatoria, but everyone is approachable and very friendly,” said Armando.
Every Tuesday afternoon and Friday, they join in kapa haka practice, and the whole family is learning te reo while at school.
“We are attending the celebrations in the marae and watching the rugby games.” (The field is right in front of their house.)
Shari has only been in Ruatoria a few weeks, so she is still finding her way around.
Armando is getting into the swing of things, heading to the local RSA to have beers with the locals.
Asked if they missed food from home, Shari said no.
“They eat butter chicken. We eat butter chicken. They eat steak. We eat steak. There are just some spices missing.
“As long as we have garlic, onion and soy sauce, we’re fine.”
And just in case, they’ve found a Filipino store here in Gisborne with specialty goods for a taste of home if they need it.
