93% of Caregivers in Canada are Filipinos
(10:51 AM)
Years ago, I've had romantic fantasies about being a live-in caregiver in London. I would suffer, of course, as all artists, especially struggling writers, must suffer.
Wiping the bums of some old farting fogey. Forcing them to take their meds. Pushing them around in their wheelchairs. Then hieing off to museums and art galleries and theaters during weekends and holidays. At night, I would have written what will eventually become my London collection. Maybe essays, perhaps poetry.
An artistic caregiver in London surely has better prospects than a brain-dead middle manager in Makati City. This was the fantastic fantasy that my wife and I entertained.
How about an artistic caregiver in Canada? Duped by a recruiter, sold into virtual slavery, abused physically, (maybe sexually, I wonder) and with little hope of escape. Canada, after all, refuses to reconize the rights of caregivers, least of all artistic caregivers. But, as a writer, struggling of course, that will be all material for a potential Booker Prize runner-up. Canada is part of the Commonwealth.
Despite Atwood and Coupland, Canada seems to be a bleaker place to live in. Despite the wilderness, the otherness to America, the Mounties, the American TV productions, the guns, the free education and dental plan.
Wiping the bums of some old farting fogey. Forcing them to take their meds. Pushing them around in their wheelchairs. Then hieing off to museums and art galleries and theaters during weekends and holidays. At night, I would have written what will eventually become my London collection. Maybe essays, perhaps poetry.
An artistic caregiver in London surely has better prospects than a brain-dead middle manager in Makati City. This was the fantastic fantasy that my wife and I entertained.
How about an artistic caregiver in Canada? Duped by a recruiter, sold into virtual slavery, abused physically, (maybe sexually, I wonder) and with little hope of escape. Canada, after all, refuses to reconize the rights of caregivers, least of all artistic caregivers. But, as a writer, struggling of course, that will be all material for a potential Booker Prize runner-up. Canada is part of the Commonwealth.
Despite Atwood and Coupland, Canada seems to be a bleaker place to live in. Despite the wilderness, the otherness to America, the Mounties, the American TV productions, the guns, the free education and dental plan.
3 Comments:
I totally agree with myself, expect when I am being an asshole.
Recommended Reading:
Emerging from the Shadows: Live-in Caregivers Learning Empowerment, by Susan Brigham and Grant MacEwan College. (PDF)
A Matter of Policy or Strategy?: The Role of Actors and Institutions in Promoting the Human Rights of Filipina Domestic Workers in Canada, by Maria Deanna P. Santos. (PDF)
Hey J! Thanks for dropping by the site. Dami mo namang blogs. :)
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