By Cyrus A. Natividad

Phoebe Isidto (extreme left) with her office mates in Sydney.

The CPUAAI in Sydney, led by its current President Val Centeno, will be starting a Scholarship project for one or two Work Students of CPU. This was learned from Centralian couple Phoebe and Ismael “Mait” Isidto (former President, CPUAAI, Sydney Chapter). Both are graduates of AB Political Science from CPU in 1983.

The funds, Isidto said, “will come from our own pockets as doing scholarship fund-raising activity for an overseas recipient is difficult in Australia.” “Our few active members in the Sydney Chapter are determined to help struggling but deserving students. Being inspired can make a difference in someone’s life,” Isidto added.

Phoebe Isidto and her sister in law Pet Binas are working for the government’s Social Security (now called Services Australia). They shared their experiences during the pandemic. “We are very busy processing payments for Social Security beneficiaries here, and the Job Seeker Payment is one of the biggest payment programs that we are working on. We’re working six days a week, sometimes 7.”

They added that they are lucky that not too many people in Sydney were infected by the COVID-19. Back in March, Sydney was on lockdown, but it has gradually returned to normal. It’s a different thing in Melbourne though as they are experiencing the second wave which is worse than when the pandemic started in March. Melbourne is on lockdown at the present. We still have a few restrictions like social distancing and limiting the number of people in clubs, pubs, and restaurants. Department stores are open and life is back to normal except for Melbourne.

“The rest of what we can do during the lockdown was to enjoy with our family at home and keeping in touch with our friends and members of our beloved alumni association”. “We look forward to coming home when everything is back to normal, and back to visit our beloved Central,” she said.