Good Luck and Bye for Now

I got a text from my sister yesterday informing me that my niece will be leaving for Manila early next day. She is bound for Saudi to work as a nurse there. The news was not unexpected; I just didn’t expect that she will be leaving that soon. I was still going to see her on the weekend, but now all I can do is to send her a text wishing her well and the best of luck on her new journey. I have another niece who has been working as a nurse in Saudi Arabia for a year now and probably early next year another niece will be leaving to U.S. to join her husband who works as a nurse there.

Ironically, now that I am back here in the country, it seems that everyone is leaving. Well, I can’t blame them, for some time now; Filipinos have been leaving the country to seek greener pastures on foreign shores. Our government is not doing enough to provide opportunities for our people here. The new nursing graduates faces uncertainty towards their future because of oversupply of nurses nowadays. Opportunities are getting scarce and hard to find, jobs abroad are now stiffer in their requirements. You have to have at least two years experience to apply for a nursing job abroad, other countries requires you to take more years of schooling in nursing before you can qualify to work as a nurse in their country. My two nieces were lucky enough, as new grads, they were able to find a nursing job overseas though it’s in the Middle East which is not their first choice, it is still a good opportunity to gain some experiences and use it as a stepping stone towards their goal. During these hard times you need to take advantage of whatever opportunities come your way. My advice to them, take charge of your future, your dreams are within your grasp now, take advantage and reach for it.

So, to my nieces out there, good luck, be happy, stay safe and bye for now. Someday soon we’ll see each other again. Take care always! I will miss you for sure!

P.S.

I wrote this article 2 years ago for my friendster blog. To update, one of my nieces is now back home, while the other is now working in Canada.