Lumen Castaneda: Founder of UNIFFIED was ‘forced’ to be a teacher
By Cristina DC Pastor of The FilAm.net
Paraluman Castaneda – Tita Lumen to many in the Filipino American community – is one year shy of 90. When she looks at people around her, she mutters to herself with a chuckle, “Seems to me I’m the oldest.”
At 89, Paraluman Castaneda, is the oldest known woman leader in the Filipino American community in the East Coast. She lives in Jersey City with her daughter Jennifer and grandson Jan. (Photo taken during the WAM podcast).
Reflecting on nearly nine decades of her life, she looked back on her path-breaking vocation as a kindergarten teacher and how being an educator has paved the way for the founding of UNIFFIED, one of the biggest Filipino American teachers organizations in the New York metro area.
“Actually, I was forced to be a teacher by my father,” she confessed to a recent episode of Women & Media (WAM) podcast hosted by Marivir Montebon and Cristina DC Pastor. She spoke softly but articulated her words clearly with no hint of bitterness against her father. She would have been happy, she said, working in an office as a secretary.
Despite her initial protests, she carried on with her father’s chosen career and discovered later in life how teaching had been nothing but kind to her. She taught kindergarten for 34 years in the Philippines, came to the United States on a tourist visa, became a day care teacher and later a public school teacher for 21 years.
“A total of 55 years,” she said. “People think I must love teaching. Yes, toward the last part of my life I did not want to leave the teaching profession. I love it especially watching kindergarten children and even though teaching kindergarten requires a lot of patience.”
“I miss my students, I miss my angels,” she sighed.
The leap from day care to the “big school” was not easy at first.
“I was scared,” she said. A teacher’s aide at the day care said she should try teaching at a regular school, but Lumen said she had heard rumors that Bronx children carried knives to school. “I said I’m afraid to go there because the kindergarten children bring knives. I said I don’t want to go there.”
Reason prevailed and Lumen made the jump and worked for the Board of Education at the Bronx for two decades during which time she witnessed no kindergarten child brought a knife to school. “I realized that is not true,” she said, a sheepish smile forming across her face.
She left the Philippines after the People Power revolt of 1986 and came to the U.S. on a tourist visa. She left behind five children who encouraged her to go find a job away from the political turmoil in the country at the time. Her husband stayed home with the children although his job as an accountant required frequent travels abroad.
She co-founded the United Federation of FilAm Educators (UNIFFIED) 10 years ago with two other teachers Ronie Mataquel and Lynne Ciocon. How the organization has grown, she marveled. It now has 71 chapters in the Philippines and 26 in the U.S. It had organized five summits in Koronadal, General Santos, Iloilo, Capiz and one in the U.S.
Tita Lumen with WAM podcast hosts Marivir Montebon and Cristina DC Pastor.
A day in the life
Lumen at 89 is still very visible in community events, her most recent being the June 30 Pistahang Bayan community picnic at a park in Jersey City organized by the Philippine Consulate. A wheelchair gets her around, or a cane for short distances. Daughter Jenny drives her to her many errands.
Her daily routine starts with a litany of prayers in the morning. The Apostles’ Creed, Our Father, and Hail Mary are usually followed by prayers to Padre Pio, known as the healing saint, for 30 minutes to an hour. She gets up and takes a shower, returns to her bedroom to watch Daily Mass on YouTube.
“After my mass I take breakfast.”
She goes down to the kitchen to cook breakfast. “I fry an egg or two. Or cook something else but I usually make sinangag. I do tapsilog.” No coffee for her, only hot honey lemon drink.
After washing the dishes, she goes back to her room to check messages on Facebook usually from UNIFFIED members. After responding, she goes out to the sunroom to water her plants. She despairs when she sees them wilting. Otherwise, the world of Lumen Castaneda remains full of cheer and optimism and bright as her flowers.
(This article first appeared on The FilAm magazine on July 9, 2024 https://thefilam.net/archives/41359?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2VegMR_kV2bW2F8jGo4I6wHlZUCjR5LCru7YBD-IMLLCWPgXcp4e2mVlE_aem_JN3D8D-e83s2P172hYIWcw )
