It started with an ad in our local newspaper in Manila, Philippines. My friend and classmate of 8 years, Telly, brought it to my attention. A Philippine-based agency that had partnered with a United States-based employment service was looking for physical therapists interested in working for Health and Hospitals Corporation in one of their many hospitals in New York City!
By then, many of my classmates had already left Manila for Texas on working visas. We received brochures of the hospitals under the HHC umbrella—and there were many hospitals in the brochure. How big was NYC that it needed all these hospitals? What makes the mindset of a migrant? Who could leave their family, friends, and everything familiar behind to go across the earth? To a new world with a different lifestyle, culture, and people?
Even the weather was different! I guess it helps that even while young, the idea of leaving the Philippines was inculcated in our minds. I have many cousins all nurses who left for the US, Canada, and Australia. I had friends and even my brother who sought employment in the Middle East.
It has been said that the biggest export of the Philippines is its people. The economics of migrating to better afford to support our families, the boundless opportunities for personal and professional development and growth, the call for adventure, and a new life are typical reasons to leave. I was a typical immigrant. I am thankful I did not have to include escaping danger or risking death as part of the reasons that compelled me to depart from the comforts of home.
The process to work abroad was long and detailed. Many documents and various papers needed to be put together: resume, recommendation letters, official school transcripts, diplomas, licensure—and some needed to be translated. It was a long process that began in January.
