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PROUD DAY: Joel Chavez accepts his citizenship from Whyalla Deputy Mayor Clare McLaughlin.
Whyalla’s Joel Chavez was presented with his Australian citizenship this week by Deputy Mayor Clare McLaughlin.
Joel, 24, has been in Australia and Whyalla for eight years after following his father Efren who came over a few years earlier from the Philippines. For the then 16-year-old Joel it would have been quite an adventure but one he doesn’t regret.
Joel was able to secure a boilermaker apprenticeship in Whyalla and now works as a tradesperson through WorkPac. Probably not surprising, as a boilermaker, Joel likes the more temperate Whyalla weather in stark contrast to the Philippines tropical heat.
“I like the weather, it’s not so humid and good for work,” Joel said.
While he likes the colder weather, Joel quickly warmed to the Whyalla community and environment.
“There’s lots of good people here and I love going down to the beach,” Joel said.
“I take my two-year-old son Jec down there and we really enjoy it.”
Cr Clare McLaughlin, deputising for Mayor Lyn Breuer who was in Port Augusta for a meeting, said Joel’s story was a happy one and one shared by many people from the Philippines who now call Whyalla home.
“It is just so wonderful to see people like Joel coming here and becoming part of a community,” Cr McLaughlin said.
“It really is a great story to see a young man making his way in life after moving here from another country.”