Name: Cielo Tilan
Please describe your current role.
I currently work as a part-time staff of Kanlungan Filipino Consortium, a part-time cleaner in a private household, and a full-time organiser of Filipino Domestic Workers in the UK.
What is the maxim you live by?
My motto in life is to do everything with a good heart and to expect nothing in return. It is also my way of paying forward all the blessings I received.
Tell us the biggest challenge that you faced and how you overcame it.
The biggest challenge I faced was leaving my children behind in the Philippines to work abroad and take care of other kids. I felt like I was dying inside that day I left. But the need to give them a better future was so great that I have to be strong and believe that my decision was for the best.
My advice to young Filipino girls is for them to have an active role in the community, and to become rights advocates by helping promote awareness of people’s rights, especially on gender equality and the rights of women and children.
Organising migrant domestic workers who left their family behind due to poverty and who became victims of slavery helped me to slowly overcome my struggles.
What is the one achievement you are most proud of and why?
The one achievement that I’m most proud of is starting the Filipino Domestic Workers Association-UK. Through the organisation, migrant domestic workers who are victims of modern slavery were able to find refuge and a community that upholds and defends their rights and welfare.
What would be your advice to young Filipino girls of today?
My advice to young Filipino girls is for them to have an active role in the community, and to become rights advocates by helping promote awareness of people’s rights, especially on gender equality, and the rights of women and children.
