Irony
I grew up in a province in the Philippines. My family was not rich, and my parents only earned enough money sufficient enough to support the seven members in our family. Being the eldest of five children, I saw it as my responsibility to care for my younger siblings. And so I persevered with my education - the only asset I have that would pull our family from poverty. I was able to study grade school and high school at our town's public school, and when it was time for me to go to college, I decided to become a working student in Manila.
I had lofty dreams of becoming a journalist, but the financial needs of my family obliged me to take up nursing - a course, they said, that would allow me to live the American Dream. Dollars: that was what nursing meant. Earning enough money that would take me to greener pastures. So, together with a large majority of my generation, I took up nursing.
Six years later and here I am, living the American Dream for almost a year. I am alone in a foreign land, away from my family. But I am content, seeing as how this calvary keeps my family alive, bringing food to the table and paying for the education of my siblings. I only need to wait two more years before I can bring my family here. I am pulling my family from the poverty we once knew, I am saving them from the hopelessness of the country. I feel guilt for abandoning my homeland, but the need is dire. There is nothing to go back to in the Philippines. My fellow nurses and their families are migrating, eager to get away from everything that our country is drowning itself in.
My brother called me up this morning. My sister had died in a car accident. She would have lived, had it not been for the large amount of blood she was losing. All she had was a cut to her chest, but why wasn't anybody able to save her? There was a hospital in our town. Surely someone there could have saved her. What went wrong? My brother told me that that hospital had closed 3 months ago, on account of the lack of staff. My sister had to be brought to the general hospital in another town, which was one and a half hours away. My sister died during the drive.
I am a nurse. I was trained to care for the sick, to give help to people who need it.
I wasn't able to save my sister.
I had lofty dreams of becoming a journalist, but the financial needs of my family obliged me to take up nursing - a course, they said, that would allow me to live the American Dream. Dollars: that was what nursing meant. Earning enough money that would take me to greener pastures. So, together with a large majority of my generation, I took up nursing.
Six years later and here I am, living the American Dream for almost a year. I am alone in a foreign land, away from my family. But I am content, seeing as how this calvary keeps my family alive, bringing food to the table and paying for the education of my siblings. I only need to wait two more years before I can bring my family here. I am pulling my family from the poverty we once knew, I am saving them from the hopelessness of the country. I feel guilt for abandoning my homeland, but the need is dire. There is nothing to go back to in the Philippines. My fellow nurses and their families are migrating, eager to get away from everything that our country is drowning itself in.
My brother called me up this morning. My sister had died in a car accident. She would have lived, had it not been for the large amount of blood she was losing. All she had was a cut to her chest, but why wasn't anybody able to save her? There was a hospital in our town. Surely someone there could have saved her. What went wrong? My brother told me that that hospital had closed 3 months ago, on account of the lack of staff. My sister had to be brought to the general hospital in another town, which was one and a half hours away. My sister died during the drive.
I am a nurse. I was trained to care for the sick, to give help to people who need it.
I wasn't able to save my sister.
posted by roseraven11 @ 10:07 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Okay, okay. I'm sorry for making this a little too dramatic. But think about it. It's not too far off from happening. This post was actually inspired by a segment in GMA's Reporter's Notebook. There was a hospital that was forced to close due to lack of staff. And there were 26 villages that depended on this hospital. The nearest hospital is 1 and a half hour drive. Just imagine if your family is in one of those 26 villages that depended on the closed hospitals.
Nursing isn't about caring the sick anymore.
i thought this happened to u. i was about to cry until i opened the comments! LOL! but this is so true. my sister is currently taking up nursing with the hopes of taking us all abroad. *sigh* by the way, it's me karen kristie, a fellow-Tolkienite. =)
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