After losing their father, the family rebuilt their lives through sacrifice, determination, and an unbreakable bond.
Every family carries a defining chapter. Some are written through celebration, while others are shaped by unexpected loss.
For the Mariano family, everything changed with the passing of their father. Overnight, grief became inseparable from responsibility. Dreams that once seemed distant suddenly depended on difficult decisions, personal sacrifice, and the determination to keep moving forward despite uncertainty.
Years later, that same family would build successful careers in the UAE, establish their own business, and become active contributors to the Filipino community. Their journey is not simply about entrepreneurship or professional achievement. It is a story of resilience, family unity, and the quiet strength that emerges when people refuse to let adversity define their future.
A Sister Who Carried the Family Forward
After the loss of their father, Ramona Mariano Sotto became far more than the eldest sibling. She became the family’s primary source of stability.
While grieving alongside her younger brother and sister, she also accepted the responsibility of becoming the family’s breadwinner. Her greatest priority was ensuring that her siblings would continue their education despite the financial uncertainty surrounding them.
Years of sacrifice eventually fulfilled that promise.
Her brother, Jovito Mariano, graduated with a degree in Architecture, while her sister, Aiza Mariano, earned a degree in Accountancy. Their academic success reflected not only their own determination but also the unwavering commitment of an elder sister who believed education would create opportunities that hardship could never erase.
For the Mariano family, education became more than a qualification. It became the foundation upon which they would rebuild their future.
Finding Opportunity in the UAE
Like millions of expatriates, each family member eventually found new opportunities in the United Arab Emirates.
Their careers developed across different industries, yet each journey reflected the same willingness to adapt, learn, and grow.
Ramona began her UAE career as a nurse before steadily progressing into healthcare leadership. Through years of dedication, she became a clinic manager and later served as the General Manager of a clinic and pharmacy in Dubai Healthcare City.
Her husband, Cris Sotto, an architect by profession, established a successful career in construction and project management. While advancing professionally, he continued nurturing an entrepreneurial ambition that extended beyond traditional employment.
Aiza’s path took an unexpected direction. Although trained as an accountant, she built her career within Dubai’s competitive jewellery retail sector, eventually becoming a shop manager. The experience strengthened her leadership skills while reinforcing her long-term aspiration of owning a business.
Meanwhile, Jovito combined his architectural background with marketing expertise while working for an international company operating across the UAE, Singapore, and South Korea. Although professionally successful, he increasingly felt inspired to build something that carried a more personal purpose.
Despite working in different industries, the family remained connected by a shared vision of creating something together.
The Challenges Behind Every Expat Journey
Professional achievements rarely reveal the emotional realities of life abroad.
For the Mariano family, the greatest challenge was never adapting to work. It was learning how to live far away from the people they loved.
Birthdays, family celebrations, graduations, and important milestones often unfolded through phone calls and video screens rather than shared embraces.
Like many overseas Filipino workers, they learned that migration demands emotional resilience alongside professional commitment.
They also had to navigate cultural differences, develop new relationships, and build lives within one of the world’s most multicultural societies.
Rather than viewing these differences as barriers, they gradually embraced them as opportunities for personal growth.
Living in the UAE strengthened their ability to communicate across cultures, respect different perspectives, and work alongside people from diverse backgrounds.
Over time, the unfamiliar became familiar, and Dubai transformed from a workplace into a second home.
Turning Family Trust Into Entrepreneurship
When the opportunity emerged to establish a business together, the decision felt less like taking a risk and more like continuing a journey they had already travelled as a family.
Years of overcoming hardship had built something stronger than business experience.
They had built trust.
Unlike many business partnerships that develop through contracts or investment agreements, their partnership had been forged through shared sacrifice, mutual support, and countless challenges overcome together.
This foundation inspired the launch of Afford’aCup, a business created not only as a commercial venture but also as a way to serve the Filipino community living in the UAE.
For the Mariano family, entrepreneurship became another expression of unity rather than individual ambition.
Bringing a Taste of Home to Fellow Filipinos
Food carries a unique emotional connection for people living far from home.
A familiar dish can instantly bring back childhood memories, family gatherings, and a sense of belonging that distance often makes difficult to replace.
Recognizing this, the family built Afford’aCup around more than products or sales.
Their goal was to offer fellow Filipinos comforting flavours that reminded them of home while introducing Filipino cuisine to customers from different nationalities.
Beyond business, they have remained actively involved in community initiatives through the Philippine Business Council Dubai and the Northern Emirates.
Their participation has included food distribution programs for Filipinos affected by job losses and support for cultural activities that preserve Filipino traditions within the UAE.
For them, entrepreneurship and community service naturally complement one another.
A Legacy That Lives Through Family
Their father never witnessed the careers they built, the business they created, or the life they established in the UAE.
Yet his influence remains visible in every achievement.
The loss that once threatened to divide the family ultimately became the force that strengthened their bond and inspired them to support one another through every challenge.
Today, each milestone represents not only personal success but also the fulfillment of a promise made years earlier during one of the most difficult periods of their lives.
Their story reflects a reality shared by many expatriate families.
Success abroad is rarely built overnight. It grows through years of sacrifice, resilience, and unwavering belief in one another.
For the Mariano family, the journey began with loss, but it continues with purpose.
Their experience demonstrates that even life’s most painful moments can become the foundation for new beginnings when families choose courage over despair, unity over division, and hope over uncertainty.
Clockwise from left: Ramona Mariano Sotto, Cris Sotto, Aiza Mariano, and Jovito Mariano
Supplied
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Source: Gulf News
