PRAISE FOR WHAT WE KNOW FOR SURE
In What We Know For Sure, Lia Ocampo and our colleagues from the U. S. Embassy in Manila, share their immigrant success stories. Each unique chapter leads us into their varied experiences.
I am deeply honored that Lia requested that I write the “Praise For.”
Foreign Service Nationals (FSNs) are critical to the success of every one of our embassies and consulates. U.S. law allows the most accomplished FSNs to immigrate with their spouses and single children (under the age of 21) to America. Lia’s book is a first-person account of her own story and the stories of other former FSNs, many of whom I had the privilege to work with during my tenure as U.S. Ambassador from 2010 to 2013.
These co-workers and friends helped us weather numerous challenges including, assisting our military and the U.S. Agency for International Development save lives following devastating typhoons, respond to Chinese encroachment in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), educate at-risk children, combat human trafficking, assist indigent Americans, help those seeking to adopt babies, care for the over 300,000 American Veterans living in the Philippines, and provide safekeeping for over 17,000 heroes who paid the ultimate sacrifice during WW11 who are laid to rest at the Manila American Cemetery, our largest overseas burial ground.
These among other accomplishments too many to mention are why the FSNs in Manila were rewarded with the opportunity to immigrate to America. It is also why they have exceeded all expectations. They are well-educated, hardworking, religious, family-centered, and resilient. I confess to being biased regarding these irrepressible new Americans. I know them. I know their struggles.
I know their sacrifices. I know their heartbreaks. I know their longings for trips home, for prayers in their churches, for the smells of their favorite foods, for karaoke nights with friends, for the humid air of their birth land.
I know the pressure on them to send money and gifts home. Even with the resentment they face from some at home and the indignities from people in their new land about the vibrance of the Filipino culture, they choose to remain and strive in America.
It would be delightful if I could praise them for becoming as well-known and wealthy as other immigrants such as automaker Elon Musk or Filipino-Americans like White House Executive Chef Criseta Comerford and entrepreneur Dada Banatao. None have attained those lofty heights. Yet, each one of them are role models for future generations of FSNs, not only in Manila but for all our embassies. Daily they reaffirm the importance of immigrants to our nation’s success.
Readers will find their stories informative and heart rendering. A testament to their individual and collective determination to build better lives in America for themselves and their families. They remind us of the importance of humility in starting over in a new land while at the same time demonstrating perseverance amid health scares, loss of family in the Philippines, and career challenges.
Mabuhay Lia and our colleagues. Salamat sa inyong lahat (thank you all) for your service to America and the Philippines.

HARRY K. THOMAS, JR.
(Ambassador Retired)
Inspirational Stories of Filipino Special Immigrants in America
What We Know
For Sure
Volume One

by Lia
© 2020 by Lia Ocampo
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any manner, including but not limited to, photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
What We Know For Sure
Inspirational Stories of Filipino Special Immigrants in America
Digital Publishing of Florida, Inc.
Oldsmar, FL 34677
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
http://www.eBookIt.com
ISBN 978-1-949720-47-1
Printed in the United States
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
For more information or to contact the author, please go to www.AuthorLia.com

To my mother,
Mercedes Papasin,
who taught me the value of reading,
skills in typing, proofreading,
and how to speak Spanish.
To my children,
Jonathan, Mary Frances, and Joshua,
who are often my supporters, and critics.
FOREWORD
Walk by faith and not by sight. Write your own story. Follow your dreams.
Lia Ocampo shared with me these words to live by as we continued to talk about the many other inspiring lines written as watermarks on her “vision board” in her tiny Florida apartment.
Twenty-five years ago, I had the opportunity to shake hands with Lia when I processed my human resources documents as a new employee of the American Embassy Manila. I was waiting in the HR waiting area when Lia passed by and asked me if I was being helped by someone. She was then working as one of the two locally employed staff assigned to handle HR management of American employees. Her cheerful demeanor and kind spirit sent positive vibes in the room. I knew then that Lia would be that kind of friend you would have for life. Fast forward, Lia left HR and moved to the sister agency of the trade department where I was assigned. In those times, we had many deep conversations about life, family, friendships, and the daily commute around Metro Manila.
When her former agency decided to close the program in Manila, Lia quickly transitioned from one U.S. Government agency to another, serving a full cycle of human resource management experience. We’ve kept in touch, despite her new assignments, until she capped her HR career at the embassy in 2012. Then she moved to America under the special immigrant visa program.
In 2015, I had the opportunity to see Lia again in Denver when I visited for a work training. It was our very first reunion after her immigration. She gave me that real precious day in between her flight assignments and I’m personally
