The importance of giving back

Paganini Ursua is a recognisable and respected member of the Harvey community.

The selfless family man received his Australian citizenship on Australia Day, after almost nine years in the country.

He is the head karate instructor in Harvey, the chef at the Kubo Filipino restaurant and a member of the Harvey Catholic Church choir.

Mr Ursua believes it is important to give back to the community.

I had a dream, I thought If I ever get the chance to go to another country, then I will do everything with great passion, enthusiasm and motivation.

“So when I first came to Australia, I felt like I had a mission.”

Mr Ursua joined the church choir as soon as he arrived in Australia. “I just went up and asked if I could help.

“I started singing Amazing Grace and everybody started crying,” he said.

Mr Ursua also helps out in the St Patrick’s Cathedral choir in Bunbury.

When he is not singing, he is most probably training his karate team.

The Harvey karate team has the most number of karateka students in the Australian National team.

They also won four gold, five silver and five bronze medals at the Karate World Championships in South Africa.

The team will also be competing in the Karate World Championships in London this year.

Mr Ursua said his family worked together in their Filipino restaurant.

“We all love cooking, my wife does desserts, my son Rom does the bread, my son Renzo does the music and my daughter Tiara does the social media.

“My five-year-old son Xander also helps where he can and he really loves to sing.”

The community man said he was grateful to the Harvey community and everyone who helped his family when he first arrived.

“Many people including the Italian population in Harvey helped us, they gave us a lot of household items like beds and a washing machine, I guess they knew what it was like to move to a new country.”

Mr Ursua said the best advice he had for other migrants was to be involved and give back.