Ventura College will be missing one of its tutors as of Friday, April 24.
Jason Afable, 23, has been with the Tutoring Center and four English classes in the S.I. program. But he will be leaving May 13 to go to the Philippines for three months to work as an English teacher in a new international school in Manila.
After teaching, he said, he will go into the Peace Corps and will be assigned to a country in the South Pacific for two years.
Afable said he joined the Peace Corps after traveling and experiencing how people from other countries have a bad image of Americans and think they are lazy.
He is fluent in English and Spanish and is learning Tagalog, which is the language of the Philippines.
While Afable has been to 15 countries, he said he will miss some typically American things while he’s in the Philippines.
“Mexican food, mole, freakin’ soaps, everything – I’m addicted to Mexican food and high-speed Internet,” he said.
While he stays in the Philippines, he said, he will figure out whether he should continue to pursue his passion for teaching there or come back to America. He is also a songwriter and singer for a local group named Mestizo Magic, which has been performing since 2003. Afable said he has been talking to a percussionist from the Philippines and will try to take his music partner with him so he can continue performing overseas.
One of the challenges that Afable is concerned about in the Philippines is breathing.
“The pollution is really bad over there,” he said. He will be starting his journey as a teacher with hopes of changing young people’s lives and realizing his goal of teaching.
Afable is an alumnus from Channel Islands State University and has a bachelor’s