Tracy Kovalench
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 19/98) - Julie Lin doesn't miss the politicians in the Philippines, but she sure does miss the warm weather.

After two winters in Yellowknife, she still laughs at the little bundles of cloth wobbling around city streets when the mercury drops past -40. "You have to dig deep down to find a face underneath so may layers," she says.

The face Lin is usually digging for is that of 30-month old Russell Lovell. For the past 17 months, she has lived with Mayor Dave Lovell and his wife, Shirley McGrath, helping care for their son. She is the nanny.

She works 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, sometimes putting in a little overtime for the mayor and his wife. She cooks, cleans and has been known to play the odd video game. She spends the mornings with young Lovell and afternoons with his two cousins.

After his parents leave for work in the morning, young Lovell turns to Lin for care and support. Lin enjoys looking after the boy because he reminds her of her own children back home.

Two years ago, the mother of five left her home of Korodal Salt Cotebato in the Philippines to pursue a career in Canada. A previous elementary school teacher, Lin says she just wasn't making enough money in her home country to support her family..

"Most Filipinos admire Canada because it's a good country," says Lin, whose aunt, uncle and two cousins were already living in the city.

After Lin took a six-month training course in child care, her aunt set her up with a Yellowknife family and she applied to the embassy in Manilla. Her application was accepted and Lin was granted a work visa.

She says it was hard to leave her husband and her children, who range from age three to 13. "I tried to explain it was for their good future," says Lin.

On top of leaving her family to go abroad, Lin also faced the difficult task of learning a new language. Sleeping through English class in college, she credits her current fluency to daily practice.

In the Philippines, her husband works in a department store. Lin has applied for an open visa, which will give her landed immigrant status, allowing her family to join her in Canada. Future plans include Canadian citizenship for the entire family. She looks forward to calling Yellowknife home.

"Compared to a lot of cities, it's not really crowded and the people are friendly."

Lin says there are a lot of Filipino nannies in the city, using their positions as stepping stones to obtain higher goals. Together, they form a nanny network across the city, sharing stories and lending support to each other.