Change is good

Friday, December 9, 2011

IT’S been said that wise men throughout the history had said that only successful people are able to change and accept what change might bring.

That is why Maria Luisa Bermudo or Malou to her closest friends and colleagues takes changes as a natural force in this world and the only choice that people have is to accept it not merely because they like change but because that’s as it should be.

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Malou is the present chief of the City Social Services and Development Office (CSSDO), a position which she holds for more than two decades now.

She was also the former chief of the City Welfare Office, a division under the Department of social Welfare and Development (DSWD) from 1978 to 1991. In 1992, when the same division was devolved and was called CSSDO under the city’s administration, Malou was appointed by then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte.

After obtaining her Bachelor of Science in Social Work at the University of Mindanao in 1972, and got her license to practice the profession, she then immediately joined the public service which she said one of her best decisions made in her whole life.

“Wala man ko nagmahay na sa gobyerno ko nagtrabaho basig pila na ka tuig (I have no regrets when I chose to work in the government for several years),” Malou told Sun.Star Davao in an interview at her office.

Before taking up a social work course in college, becoming a nurse was her ultimate dream. But due to financial constraint she couldn’t afford Nursing and chose another course.

It wasn’t easy, she said, because aside from taking up a course that was not her first choice, she had to change her perspective in the career she intends to pursue.

Malou made the best with the change she underwent.

Problems, including financial difficulties, did not stop Malou from pursuing her dream of becoming a nurse and with the help of her generous relatives who had helped her in one way or another in achieving her ultimate dream.

Even while working with the government as social worker, every weekend, Malou went to North Valley College (NVC) in Kidapawan City just to study nursing. Every weekend, she travels from city to city just to obtain her nursing dream.

After few years, she earned her nursing degree and passed the nurses’ board exam but did not practice her profession as a nurse.

She said she finds contentment when she can apply her being a nurse to her profession as a social worker. But more so when she is able to apply those knowledge and skills to become a better wife and mother.

"Happy na kaayo ko kung makita nako na daghan kog natabangan ug makita nako ang immediate changes sa ilang mga kinabuhi (Helping lots of people in my work made me happy especially if I can see an immediate changes in their lives)," she said.

Malou is married to Engineer Renato S. Bermudo, project manager for Davao of World Tech Marketing Inc, and is blessed with a lone daughter Maria Visitacion Ana who is 17 years old.