Providing a future for her kids

Iris Niedo; a 35 year old mother of three, comes from a rural town in Cebu calledAloguinsan. She decided to make the trip to Cebu to undertake a short course in Food and Beverage Services (FBS) National Certificate II through the Banilad Centre for Professional Development. Iris hoped that by undertaking this training she could obtain a job and provide a better future for her family. The training took over one month and afterwards Iris undertook 6 months of on-the-job training at Bron’s Food and Drinks, where she gained exposure to the workplace in the dining room and kitchen area of the establishment.

After passing her Food & Beverage Service National Certificate II assessment and graduating from the training, Iris applied for casual work at a resto bar as part of the service team and worked there for three months. Through BCPD, she heard of a job opening at Café Georg - a long-time industry partner of BCPD. She decided to apply and was immediately hired. Having acquired knowledge and skills through her training, as well as industry experience from her on-the-job training, she was hired as a permanent employee of Café Georg after her initial 10-day apprentice training. Iris now works there in the kitchen.

Looking back on her experience, Iris feels grateful for what she learned from the training. At first, she found it difficult to be away from her family, she also went through hardships during the training, but eventually, she learned to love what she was doing.

Iris now feels great satisfaction that she has regular employment and is able to help her husband in providing for their children’s needs, particularly their education. Iris is grateful to BCPD for the quality of training provided, which prepared her for the hospitality industry and enabled her to obtain a good job.