CHRISTMAS PARTY/ CATHY'S 26TH BIRTHDAY
WHEN: DECEMBER 13, 2008 (SAT)
TIME: 3:00 PM - ????
WHERE: 13221 SPARREN AVENUE, SAN DIEGO, CA 92129
INFO: $ 25 FOR Exchange GIFTS (Girls Stuff only)
Optional: $5 contribution per couple for game prizes (if that’s ok guys)
DRESS CODE: Dress to impress! Make sure it is not too short because cathy loves taking pictures. Hehe
******POOL WILL BE HEATED to 85 degrees. Bring bathing suit for you and your kids******
FOOD: POTLOCK... Bring any dish you want that we can all share...(Please let us know ahead)
FRIENDS OF FRIENDS: Bring your friends too so we can share the fun with them. The more the merrier! Make sure they want to join the exchange gifts and games too.
CONTACT US: CATHY HAYES 858..442.9583 OR RUTHIA BAJA 310.844.2980 OR LET US KNOW BY REPLYING THIS EMAIL IF YOU CAN JOIN THE PARTY..
THANK YOU SO MUCH.. AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL...

Guimaras is being ruined!

I went back home for the first time since I left in 2002. It was all different when I came back last December 2007. I came from the island called Guimaras and everything then was cheap and you are pretty much free to go in and out the beaches such as Alubihod. Last January 1 2008, I took the whole clan to go swimming at the beach. We can’t just go in anymore. They have these huge tall fences and gates that collect entrance fees!  How ridiculous is this? This was the place where we grew up. We have taken care of it and preserved the goodies. Now it is being taken away from us. They are building huge modern concrete hotels and restaurants around the place. Those tall Mahogany and Talisay trees were gone. Not only they have ruined its natural beauty, they have also taken it away from the locals. Why does the government let them do this? We used to have a ton of those big turtles (not sure what is the scientific name) called “Pawikan”. We fed and let them breed around Nueva Valencia island but I can’t find them anymore☹ It shattered my heart when I found out that some of them died because of the oil spill way back a couple of years ago. I can’t believe this is happening! Local fishermen have to go around the other side of the island because they are not allowed to park their “Bangka” close to the “new resort”. This sucks a lot! I do now believe that huge corporations and rich people run everything. Money seems to be the most important thing everywhere. I do pray that one day. I can be as wealthy as those big guys. I want to give back what was taken from my fellow that still live off the natural resources of the island.

Before

After

An exerpt from jsimbulan page

I thought everyone should read this as I myself had been a caregiver for 3 years!

The movie of Sharon Cuneta “Caregiver” perfectly depicts the life and frustrations of Filipino caregivers abroad. Most of our caregivers are nurses or nursing graduates, in case you didn’t know. I haven’t seen Sharon Cuneta’s movie and this is not going to be an article about showbiz or movies.  It’s about Pinoys abroad working as caregivers.

The Philippines is Canada’s best source of caregivers. I know because one of my former flames went there in 1999. She’s a nurse four years my senior. We had plans of getting married and this is no secret to my present wife.

Being a nursing researcher, I got interested in studying how many Filipinos work abroad as caregivers. I do not have the exact figures at this point in time but in 2007 alone, some 200,000 Filipinos have been living in the UK for at least 3 years and working mostly in health facilities. In Canada, the scenario is quite the same. More than 200,000 Filipinos or Pinoys work in hospitals and nursing homes as nurses, nursing assistants and caregivers.

Each year, The Philippines sends Filipino workers abroad and it seems that working as a caregiver is the easiest way out of the country.

From experience, in 1999 and earlier years, if you are a nursing graduate or a Registered Nurse (RN), you can apply as caregiver to Canada and UK without undergoing any further training. In 2001, job requirements became more strict and the Philippine government made changes to policies regarding employment abroad as a caregiver. Starting then, nurses/nursing graduates or anyone who wanted to work as a caregiver had to undergo schooling. It was the start of the “Caregiver School Outbreak” where the number of caregiver schools or training centers all over the country started to increase at a very fast rate.

In my view, the government policy or job requirement was laced with a little malice. It was known at a later time that most of the caregiver training centers or schools were owned by government officials. It all boiled down to business, baby!

Up to now, the situation remains the same. And how about the caregivers? Are they having the best time of their lives? Nope. That’s an illusion. Most of them either suffer from the “homesick versus dollar” syndrome or regret for not having been with their families for a long time. The worst is when a mother fails to see her kids grow up. This is a huge sacrifice on their parts. And who cares about our caregivers and other overseas Filipino workers (OFW’s)? We all should, not just the government.

So, do you want to be a caregiver?