Noel—The Philosopher from The Philippines

Noel speaks with a soft, soothing voice. The kind of voice you could imagine listening to on a meditation app or in an audio book. But when he goes into deeper topics, his tone becomes a bit more pronounced, and you immediately understand there is something profound there.

But let’s start with the basics. Who is Noel and what gets him ticking?

Noel enjoys the simple things in life. In his free time — which he says he doesn’t have that much — he takes care of his plants, rests or goes out to ride his bike. He also likes to cook food, proper food, something that is healthy.

“During weekends I try to prepare something special that I can remember during the weekdays when I don’t have the time”, he says laughing.

Before the pandemic, Noel used to do more things with friends, but during the past couple of years he has mostly stayed at home, but he is not complaining: “It’s good I can stay home with the kid and the home needs a lot of cleaning and fixing too.”

Noel moved to Finland from the Philippines in 2019 and has worked as a professional home cleaner at Freska ever since then. How did he end up in Finland?

“This is the only country outside of my home country I have lived in, my second home, of course”, he says, emphasizing the two last words heavily. Noel says that basically everything is different in all aspects in his new country compared to the Philippines: “It’s like a new life.”

“I didn’t expect I would be here. I didn’t dream about going outside of my home country. I always told myself I was like a nationalistic person”, he says with a burst of laughter.

"But things happen in life, and I am now just enjoying some good things happening.”

What about Noel’s background? He says that he doesn’t remember what he wanted to be when he was younger, as it’s such a long time ago, but he says he was born into a simple life. He used to work in an office cubicle for 17 years and never thought he would love to work in a more social environment and take care of customers, but he has come to realize differently.

”Working as a home cleaner is similar to working in an office — for myself, minusta”, he says, dropping a hint at his developing Finnish language skills. ”But what makes home cleaning different is you are helping a family spend their time together, doing the things they love. And I do my thing, the job I love.”

The word family comes up a lot in Noel’s contemplations. When asked about his fondest memories, he says, “It’s still the time I spent with my family. What makes your character, your personality is part of you being with your family. It makes who you are, it defines you, it shapes you, it makes you do things because you have a dream for your family. Everything I do in life is for them.”

But Noel’s idea of family is a bit broader than your typical dictionary definition. He says that as a professional home cleaner, he feels like a part of many of his customers’ families and that he is also welcomed into their homes and lives as such.

"I’m a very open person. When people open themselves to me, I open myself too. Don’t need to know a person that long to know that person is a good person. Pretty much I have already told my story with all my customers. Every time I go to a person’s home, it’s a memory registered in my mind, and a personal commitment. Being there is more than cleaning the house. It’s making their home a better place to live."

Talking to Noel, and listening to him talk, you can’t help but marvel at his ability to fuse the deepest topics with a touch of witty humor. Actually, when writing this story based on the interview recording, the audio becomes a bit muffled towards the end by sounds of the photographer and interviewer sniffling and struggling to maintain their composure.

Noel knows what he is doing and he is quick and sharp with the answers throughout the conversation. But at the end of the interview, one question—what is your biggest lesson in life?—makes him think for a bit, but the answer makes the wait more than worth the while.

So, Noel, what is your biggest lesson in life?

”Aside from partitiivi — my teacher teaches me — it relates to a prayer. A prayer that allowed me to accept the things that I can’t change. And gave me the effort and energy to change things that I can manage to control. In my everyday life I always think about it. Just accept the things you cannot change and have the courage and perseverance to act on the things you can change”

That seemed like a good time to wrap up.

Want to read our wonderful Elisa's story? Check it out here. 👈