Like many first-time visitors to this tranquil, timber-rich region, Paulo Valenciano had never seen so many trees, or heard so much quiet.
The slow, rustic rhythms that define life in the Cariboo are quite literally a world apart from the 18-year-old’s native country of the Philippines, where he grew up in the greater Manilla area, near the country’s capital, one of the most densely populated areas on Earth, in a crowded, bustling world of lights, businesses, skyscrapers and concrete.
Paulo’s primary language is Tagalog, which is widely spoken in the Philippines. He speaks it at home with his aunt and legal guardian, Elizabeth Hesse who sponsored Paulo as an orphaned family relative, bringing him to 100 Mile House in July of this year.
Elizabeth, the sister of Paulo’s mother, whose name is Winnie, is married to Ernie Hesse, a Canadian. The couple have lived here together, with 15-year-old daughter Mikaela, since 2011.
Paulo lost his mother to lung cancer in 2014; his father to a car accident in 2013. His father, Elvis, had left his mother when he was eight years old. Paulo is the youngest of four siblings. After his mom died, Paulo bounced around between their homes, living temporarily with each. Elizabeth and Ernie wanted to give Paulo a place to belong, and a true father figure, which Elizabeth says Paulo lacked most of his life. Elizabeth says they sponsored Paulo “to change his life here in Canada.”
There are about 15 Filipino families in this area, Elizabeth estimates. The Filipino culture is for the most part a very religious one, she explains, and the churches in the 100 Mile House area are very supportive of the new immigrants.
English is also widely spoken in the Philippines, and Elizabeth and Mikaela speak it very well. While Paulo has some command of the language, he continues to struggle with it. Elizabeth encourages him to practice as much as possible.
Where Paulo is comfortable is on the basketball court. It’s a sport he loves, a sport that’s incredibly popular in the Philippines. On the court, Paulo is a slim kid with a wide and ready smile whose style of play is of the run-and-gun variety.
He doesn’t waste much time getting the ball to the basket and he possesses a quick, high-arching jump shot that falls through the hoop pretty consistently. He plays an all-out, physical-style of defence that lends itself to foul trouble, or he plays no defence at all. His coaches try to address this, and he tries to listen to his coaches, but they speak no Tagalog, so it’s a work in progress. On the court, Paulo is always smiling. Some of the boys call him P.
“I never expected we had basketball here,” Paulo says. Before a classmate at Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School invited him to shoot hoops during an open gym period at the start of the school year. Paulo is among the best players in the school and he’s a member of the senior boy’s team, the Eagles, which competed in their first tournament of the season in Ashcroft in December, and played a charity exhibition game against the Harlem Crowns the month before.
Paulo was in that game, sprinting up and down the floor harder than he needed to, running and gunning, not wasting open looks or chances at layups or defensive stops. Both teams, the Eagles and the Crowns, took a group photo after the game. Paulo is standing on the far left, grinning, a schoolbag slung over his shoulder, giving a thumbs up.
“I really love playing basketball. In the Philippines, I was playing only in the street. Because in school, there were no tournaments.”
Paulo is also learning to play the drums. On the weekends, he works at the A&W Restaurant, where he says, “it’s not easy, but you can learn much.”
“I learn about the serving of food and how to make a burger. I learn about the responsibility of working on the grill, and always cleaning up your place.”
He’s also now, for the first time, an older brother figure of sorts to his younger cousin, Mikaela, who also attends PSO. The pair’s relationship seems to be going as most relationships between teenage siblings go.
Asked how is it getting along with Paulo since he moved in this summer, Mikaela waffles her hand, “so-so,” she says, and laughs to cushion the blow.
“Sometimes he can be annoying,” Mikaela says. “Sometimes he’s fun to be with.”
Elizabeth adds, “It’s part of being brothers and sisters”.
Mikaela has to agree, and both Paulo and Mikaela find it amusing. Paulo is good with chores around the house, Mikaela then admits. Paulo learned to mow the lawn this summer and he’s now learning about that seasonal burden familiar to most Canadians everywhere – clearing heaps of snow from the driveway.
Asked about his future, Paulo mentions that he has to study more, that he has to get his math scores up. Then he mentions his mother, who used to run a small shop in their old neighbourhood selling school supplies.
Paulo says he wants to be a businessman one day. He wants to run a small business like his mother did. Business teaches responsibility, he says.
“My mother said to me, business is good work.”
