| Zenaida Ferry Kharroubi |
This passage quoted from Isaac T. Goodine’s book
entitled “Leaders Leading Leaders” seems to give us an
insight into why there are people who do nothing and
yet, there are those who seem to be involved in many
things. Zenaida Ferry Kharroubi whose pioneering spirit
has been demonstrated time and time again in everything
she has done – from building her own school to
establishing the first Filipino Canadian Scout group in
Montreal – is a classic example of how an immigrant like
herself can succeed under any kind of circumstances. She
also has proven that there are many things in life that
can be done if one is willing to do them. She juggles her
time among numerous tasks and responsibilities – she
teaches full time in her own college, edits and publishes a
bi-monthly newspaper, serves as administrator of a
Scouting group, volunteers as a secretary treasurer of a
entitled “Leaders Leading Leaders” seems to give us an
insight into why there are people who do nothing and
yet, there are those who seem to be involved in many
things. Zenaida Ferry Kharroubi whose pioneering spirit
has been demonstrated time and time again in everything
she has done – from building her own school to
establishing the first Filipino Canadian Scout group in
Montreal – is a classic example of how an immigrant like
herself can succeed under any kind of circumstances. She
also has proven that there are many things in life that
can be done if one is willing to do them. She juggles her
time among numerous tasks and responsibilities – she
teaches full time in her own college, edits and publishes a
bi-monthly newspaper, serves as administrator of a
Scouting group, volunteers as a secretary treasurer of a
cooperative, and manages a staff of freelance teachers who work in her own school.
In recognition of her many accomplishments, she received several awards and certificates. In
2000, the Bb Pilipinas World Beauty Pageant gave her a certificate as one of the 10 outstanding
Filipino Canadians. In May 2003, she received a Teacher Award from the Canadian Association of
Canadian Filipino Teachers. The Philippine Folk Art Society of Quebec gave her a service award
in May 2004 which was followed by a certificate of appreciation from the Chair of Human
Relations of the World Academy of Letters in October 2004. In June 2005, Ambassador Francisco
Benedicto of the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa gave her a plaque of appreciation. During the
17th anniversary celebration of Gilmore International College on October 28, 2006, three
organizations gave her a big surprise – the Scouts and their parents, the Philippine Folk Art
Society of Quebec, and the Filipino Solidarity Cooperative – each one of them awarded her a
plaque of appreciation.
A quiet and unassuming person, Zenaida Ferry-Kharroubi finds it hard to speak about her
accomplishments. It takes a while before one can find out what she has done but one record
speaks for itself - she is known to be the first Filipino to open a private college in Quebec. Her
own experience as a student in four different universities and teacher in the public schools in
Quebec was one of the reasons why she chose to open her own business in education. She
believes that education is the only way we can effect change in society. She established Gilmore
Business Institute on November 1, 1989 but it is now renamed as Gilmore International College
because of the many foreign students attending courses in learning a second language and
international trade.
She was born in Manila, Philippines and lived with her parents, the late Domingo S. Ferry and
Filomena Aldana, in San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City. She was the only child until her
parents adopted a baby girl when she was 15 years old. She grew up under very strict rules
and had learned to work early in life, starting at age 16. She said she now realizes that the
strict discipline she received from her parents gave her the motivation to be self-sufficient and to
work hard. In fact, she had always been a working student for many years but in spite of her
busy schedule, she managed to teach catechism on Sundays at the church near her home in
Quezon City. She also worked during weekends in dressmaking although she already had a job
as secretary, first at the Lions Club of Manila where she worked for seven years and then at
Botica de Santa Cruz, a pharmaceutical and drug manufacturing company.
Due to the fact she could not attend the day school in the UP Diliman campus after high school,
she first enrolled at Far Eastern University so that she could work during the day. She was
offered a job by the treasurer of the Lions Club of Manila as a result of her winning a gold medal
in a stenography competition at the Central Institute of Technology where she took a vocational
course for six months during her senior year in high school. Then, she moved on to be
department executive secretary for a German manager of Botica De Santa Cruz where she
worked from 1963 to 1965.
Two years after obtaining a B.A. degree in English literature from the University of the
Philippines, she immigrated to Canada in October 1965. She never had a difficult time finding a
job. She found a secretarial job within a week of her arrival in Canada. Prior to her teaching
career, she worked as an executive secretary in three major companies – Underwriters
Adjustment Bureau, an insurance business, Readers Digest, an American owned publishing
company, and Canadian Pacific Railway in the telecommunications department.
In 1971, she resigned from her secretarial job to pursue an Education Diploma course at McGill
University. Immediately after obtaining an Education Diploma in 1972, she was hired as a high
school teacher with the Montreal Catholic School Commission and taught for 25 years before
retiring in 1997.
While working as a high school teacher, she went back to university to finish a TESL certificate
(teaching English as a second language) in 1979, and then enrolled in the graduate school of
education, obtaining an M.A. degree in Educational Studies, Philosophy option from Concordia
University in 1995. She also studied Financial and Management Accounting in McGill University
and some courses in Business Administration from Concordia
University.
“Wearing many hats”, or doing many things at the same time seems to be a natural thing for
her. Due to her hectic schedule for being a wife, mother, student and a teacher, she did not
have time left to get involved with community activities before her early retirement in 1997.
However, as soon as she accepted one volunteer position, she received many more requests for
her services. She was press relations officer of the Philippine Benevolent Scholarship Society
from 1996 to 1998, then vice-president from 1998 to 2000. At the same time, she was the
chairman of La Liga Rizalista in 1998 to 1999, and secretary of the Philippine Centennial
Movement, Montreal Chapter. She was also the Vice-President of the Quebec Association of
Filipino-Canadian Teachers from 1996 to 1998, and communication director of the Philippine Folk
Art Society of Quebec for 4 years from 2002 to 2006. In 2003, she became a group
commissioner of Scouts Canada, having formed the first Filipino Canadian Scout Group named
“Laging Handa 0592, under the Quebec Council of Scouts Canada.
It was not her plan to be involved in publishing a newspaper but it seemed as if she was
destined to find an outlet for her love of writing. She took over a community newspaper that
had closed down after 16 years. Within a few years, she turned it around and made it profitable
enough. Since April 1998, she has been editing and publishing the North American Filipino Star.
Steadily increasing in popularity, the newspaper has enough advertisers to cover its printing
costs and other expenses. Being the editor and publisher, she has been invited to many press
conferences in Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa. She says that one of the perks of the
newspaper business is the privilege of interviewing different kinds of people. As she enjoys
what she is doing, she does not mind working long hours, even until the wee hours of the
morning to meet press deadlines. Moreover, she feels that she is fulfilling her objective of
providing an important community service.
As if she does not have enough to do, she offered her help to the first Filipino Solidarity
Cooperative in Quebec when it started having financial troubles in August 2006. Not only did
she help establish its accounting system, she also helped obtain a credit line with a bank in
order to keep the store open. The Coop’s store would have closed for lack of cash flow if she did
not take the risk of guaranteeing the credit line which is secured against her own collateral.
Believing that the Coop is an important symbol of community solidarity, she does not stop
campaigning to recruit new Coop members. She devotes a column in her newspaper to write
the news about the Cooperative in order to keep everyone informed. She is currently the
secretary and treasurer of the Coop, a job she took over since January 2007.
Her latest preoccupation is about working on a license to offer the Professional Integration
Program to foreign graduates of nursing. Many of her students taking language courses are
caregivers who have university degrees in nursing, education, engineering, and other healthcare
fields but because of not being accredited by the professional bodies, they are unable to practice
their professions. She wants to make a difference by making it possible for these people to get
the proper orientation and integration courses that will make them acquire the necessary license
to practice their professions. She also plans to establish a student exchange program with
universities in the Philippines. If she succeeds in having the program approved by the Quebec
Ministry of Education, she will be selecting carefully the first group of students in order to make
sure that they all succeed in passing the licensing examinations.
What will be her next project? Nobody can tell but one thing is certain. She has a dream that
the school she founded will one day become an institution of higher learning. She has already
started working towards that goal by collaborating with universities in other countries. In 2001,
she signed an agreement with the Nantong Teachers College in China to offer the International
Trade Program. She also signed an agreement with a university in Tunisia for future
collaboration. She believes that one day Gilmore International College will be Gilmore University.
But before this happens, she wants to have a branch or extension in other selected cities like
Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. as soon as her pilot project in Montreal becomes successful.
She wants to be able to train highly qualified nurses and other nursing care professionals for all
Canadian hospitals and healthcare institutions. At present, she already has been sending
nursing aide graduates to work in long term care institutions in Quebec.
By November 1, 2009, she would like to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Gilmore International
College in an upscale venue. She is looking forward to having dignitaries from civic, church and
government circles as her guests.
Nominated by Alvin Veloso
TOFA 1998
In recognition of her many accomplishments, she received several awards and certificates. In
2000, the Bb Pilipinas World Beauty Pageant gave her a certificate as one of the 10 outstanding
Filipino Canadians. In May 2003, she received a Teacher Award from the Canadian Association of
Canadian Filipino Teachers. The Philippine Folk Art Society of Quebec gave her a service award
in May 2004 which was followed by a certificate of appreciation from the Chair of Human
Relations of the World Academy of Letters in October 2004. In June 2005, Ambassador Francisco
Benedicto of the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa gave her a plaque of appreciation. During the
17th anniversary celebration of Gilmore International College on October 28, 2006, three
organizations gave her a big surprise – the Scouts and their parents, the Philippine Folk Art
Society of Quebec, and the Filipino Solidarity Cooperative – each one of them awarded her a
plaque of appreciation.
A quiet and unassuming person, Zenaida Ferry-Kharroubi finds it hard to speak about her
accomplishments. It takes a while before one can find out what she has done but one record
speaks for itself - she is known to be the first Filipino to open a private college in Quebec. Her
own experience as a student in four different universities and teacher in the public schools in
Quebec was one of the reasons why she chose to open her own business in education. She
believes that education is the only way we can effect change in society. She established Gilmore
Business Institute on November 1, 1989 but it is now renamed as Gilmore International College
because of the many foreign students attending courses in learning a second language and
international trade.
She was born in Manila, Philippines and lived with her parents, the late Domingo S. Ferry and
Filomena Aldana, in San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City. She was the only child until her
parents adopted a baby girl when she was 15 years old. She grew up under very strict rules
and had learned to work early in life, starting at age 16. She said she now realizes that the
strict discipline she received from her parents gave her the motivation to be self-sufficient and to
work hard. In fact, she had always been a working student for many years but in spite of her
busy schedule, she managed to teach catechism on Sundays at the church near her home in
Quezon City. She also worked during weekends in dressmaking although she already had a job
as secretary, first at the Lions Club of Manila where she worked for seven years and then at
Botica de Santa Cruz, a pharmaceutical and drug manufacturing company.
Due to the fact she could not attend the day school in the UP Diliman campus after high school,
she first enrolled at Far Eastern University so that she could work during the day. She was
offered a job by the treasurer of the Lions Club of Manila as a result of her winning a gold medal
in a stenography competition at the Central Institute of Technology where she took a vocational
course for six months during her senior year in high school. Then, she moved on to be
department executive secretary for a German manager of Botica De Santa Cruz where she
worked from 1963 to 1965.
Two years after obtaining a B.A. degree in English literature from the University of the
Philippines, she immigrated to Canada in October 1965. She never had a difficult time finding a
job. She found a secretarial job within a week of her arrival in Canada. Prior to her teaching
career, she worked as an executive secretary in three major companies – Underwriters
Adjustment Bureau, an insurance business, Readers Digest, an American owned publishing
company, and Canadian Pacific Railway in the telecommunications department.
In 1971, she resigned from her secretarial job to pursue an Education Diploma course at McGill
University. Immediately after obtaining an Education Diploma in 1972, she was hired as a high
school teacher with the Montreal Catholic School Commission and taught for 25 years before
retiring in 1997.
While working as a high school teacher, she went back to university to finish a TESL certificate
(teaching English as a second language) in 1979, and then enrolled in the graduate school of
education, obtaining an M.A. degree in Educational Studies, Philosophy option from Concordia
University in 1995. She also studied Financial and Management Accounting in McGill University
and some courses in Business Administration from Concordia
University.
“Wearing many hats”, or doing many things at the same time seems to be a natural thing for
her. Due to her hectic schedule for being a wife, mother, student and a teacher, she did not
have time left to get involved with community activities before her early retirement in 1997.
However, as soon as she accepted one volunteer position, she received many more requests for
her services. She was press relations officer of the Philippine Benevolent Scholarship Society
from 1996 to 1998, then vice-president from 1998 to 2000. At the same time, she was the
chairman of La Liga Rizalista in 1998 to 1999, and secretary of the Philippine Centennial
Movement, Montreal Chapter. She was also the Vice-President of the Quebec Association of
Filipino-Canadian Teachers from 1996 to 1998, and communication director of the Philippine Folk
Art Society of Quebec for 4 years from 2002 to 2006. In 2003, she became a group
commissioner of Scouts Canada, having formed the first Filipino Canadian Scout Group named
“Laging Handa 0592, under the Quebec Council of Scouts Canada.
It was not her plan to be involved in publishing a newspaper but it seemed as if she was
destined to find an outlet for her love of writing. She took over a community newspaper that
had closed down after 16 years. Within a few years, she turned it around and made it profitable
enough. Since April 1998, she has been editing and publishing the North American Filipino Star.
Steadily increasing in popularity, the newspaper has enough advertisers to cover its printing
costs and other expenses. Being the editor and publisher, she has been invited to many press
conferences in Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa. She says that one of the perks of the
newspaper business is the privilege of interviewing different kinds of people. As she enjoys
what she is doing, she does not mind working long hours, even until the wee hours of the
morning to meet press deadlines. Moreover, she feels that she is fulfilling her objective of
providing an important community service.
As if she does not have enough to do, she offered her help to the first Filipino Solidarity
Cooperative in Quebec when it started having financial troubles in August 2006. Not only did
she help establish its accounting system, she also helped obtain a credit line with a bank in
order to keep the store open. The Coop’s store would have closed for lack of cash flow if she did
not take the risk of guaranteeing the credit line which is secured against her own collateral.
Believing that the Coop is an important symbol of community solidarity, she does not stop
campaigning to recruit new Coop members. She devotes a column in her newspaper to write
the news about the Cooperative in order to keep everyone informed. She is currently the
secretary and treasurer of the Coop, a job she took over since January 2007.
Her latest preoccupation is about working on a license to offer the Professional Integration
Program to foreign graduates of nursing. Many of her students taking language courses are
caregivers who have university degrees in nursing, education, engineering, and other healthcare
fields but because of not being accredited by the professional bodies, they are unable to practice
their professions. She wants to make a difference by making it possible for these people to get
the proper orientation and integration courses that will make them acquire the necessary license
to practice their professions. She also plans to establish a student exchange program with
universities in the Philippines. If she succeeds in having the program approved by the Quebec
Ministry of Education, she will be selecting carefully the first group of students in order to make
sure that they all succeed in passing the licensing examinations.
What will be her next project? Nobody can tell but one thing is certain. She has a dream that
the school she founded will one day become an institution of higher learning. She has already
started working towards that goal by collaborating with universities in other countries. In 2001,
she signed an agreement with the Nantong Teachers College in China to offer the International
Trade Program. She also signed an agreement with a university in Tunisia for future
collaboration. She believes that one day Gilmore International College will be Gilmore University.
But before this happens, she wants to have a branch or extension in other selected cities like
Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. as soon as her pilot project in Montreal becomes successful.
She wants to be able to train highly qualified nurses and other nursing care professionals for all
Canadian hospitals and healthcare institutions. At present, she already has been sending
nursing aide graduates to work in long term care institutions in Quebec.
By November 1, 2009, she would like to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Gilmore International
College in an upscale venue. She is looking forward to having dignitaries from civic, church and
government circles as her guests.
Nominated by Alvin Veloso
TOFA 1998
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Teacher, publisher, editor, and community leader “Between the big things that we cannot do and the little things we will not do, the danger is that we will do nothing.” Monod |
Copyright© 2007 Filipino Image. All rights Reserved. Request for Write-up | Contract | Subscribe | Publisher | Contact Us
| ADs of Zenaida Kharroubi |
