Mila Dela Pena
Mila shared her story in two parts. First was her autobiography, followed by her history of being a part of Rotary International.
Mila was born in 1947 and grew up in the Philippines. Her father was a WWII veteran/survivor. Her Mother was a housewife and vegetable vendor. She described her parents as hardworking and loving. Despite being poor, her parents were recipients of the “so called Lucky Parents Award of the Year.” It was a tradition in her rural community to honor parents who exerted more effort and hard work to send their children to school. Mila was one of seven siblings. All graduated and working in their chosen careers. In good time, all were living in the United States. Each has their own family and live as Mila described it, “normal lives”.
Mila married at the age of 21 in 1970. At that point she shared that she was disowned by her parents and had to start over from scratch. She learned the art of being a hairdresser. This permitted her to earn a living. Without parental support, she and her husband faced the challenges that would lie in the years ahead of her. She shared that, “God is good”. She was qualified as a hairdresser and was able to move to Saudi Arabia in 1987 to work as a hairdresser. She moved back to the Philippines in 2007 after working in Saudi Arabia for 20 year.
As Mila shared, fast forward… She raised her two children. Her son, Diomil Daliva dela Pena is an architect owning his own company with foreign partners and doing very well in Manila. He has a supportive, loving wife with three children. Two are professionals, and they live as a happy family.
Her daughter, Catherine, is a nurse working at DHMC in the birthing department. She had four children, two are professionals and live happily here in Lebanon, NH.
Mila petitioned for citizenship by her daughter in 2012 and became a citizen in 2018. She went to school to become a certified nursing assistant. She worked at Wheelock Terrace. She then moved to environmental services at DHMC. She retired from DHMC in 2022. She wasn’t ready to fully retired and has taken a position in Dartmouth College and works as a custodian. She shared that she is part of a good team.
Mila then transitioned to give us her history with Rotary International. Her first husband, Diosdado M. dela Pena was a charter member of the Rotary Club of Metro Roxas. He was inducted into Rotary International on July 27, 1986. She shared that all charter members are “now in heaven., May their souls rest in peace.” Rotary Club of Metro Roxas is still active and has 37 members. Her husband’s club supported a new club, Metro Roxas-Central and Mila was a charter member of this club. The club was founded in 2007. The club started as a group for 36 empowered women and ballroom dancers! The club continues to grow and is doing well. Mila was to be president in 2012/2013. She was to be president the year the RI President was to be Sakuji Tanaka. His theme was Peace Through Service. As a newly elected president-elect she shared that she was hopeful that her club would be united in advocacy. Her major project for her term as president was launching Essential Healthcare Program and Awareness in an elementary school in her hometown. In addition, she was committed to supporting a program for inmates called The Livelihood Program. She supported this with monetary donations that were used to support families of inmates. The Club joined a medical mission with the vice governor in the province of Capriz. She followed up on a ongoing project of the club to provide artificial legs. In her year 25 individuals received artificial legs. The sponsored feeding programs in rural areas, and distributed school bags at an elementary school.
She let us know that as President-elect she attended President-elect Training Seminar (PETS), District Assembly, and a joint Governor’s club visit. She organized a Interact Peace Forum. She welcomed Rotarian visitors from Austria and Germany who gave school children supplies. They arranged for these Rotarians to learn about their cultural heritage.
With her fellow Rotarians, she celebrated her 65th birthday having fun. It sounds like her club was encouraged to come to District meetings, as they always made the meeting fun filled and always included dance.
Mila is truly an example of someone who lives, Service Above Self. She did all of the above in less than half a year. In December of her president year, she needed to move to the United States.
In closing, she let us know that her last service project in the Philippines was on December 12, 2012. She celebrated an early Christmas at a party for children with disabilities. “And now the rest is history”.