The miracles of free higher education

Filipinos are recognized globally for their hard work, compassion, helpfulness, family focus and optimism despite difficulties. Many pursue employment, any employment, abroad to support their families and sustain themselves.

But while many leave for abroad to earn wages they cannot possibly earn here, many OFWs view their employment as temporary. All yearn to return home to be with their loved ones.

This is the story of Mikka Ella Samparada, a domestic helper in Hong Kong whom I met during my “Padyak: Claiming Victory for Higher Education” bicycle caravan in Laguna at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She spoke on behalf of the new Tulong Dunong program (TDP) beneficiaries at a stop along the bike caravan, and her story has to be told.

In her own words, she said: “Ako po si Mikka Ella Samparada, 35 taong gulang, limang taon na akong domestic helper sa Hong Kong. Sariwa pa rin sa aking alaala ang pait ng buhay bilang OFW, lalong-lalo na kung ikaw ay isang domestic helper. Tatlong oras lamang ang tulog, walang katapusang gawain sa bahay, magluluto para sa limang tao, pero parang nagpakain ka sa isang piyesta, sandamakmak na hugasin, gigising ng alas tres ng madaling araw at tutulog ng ala-una ng gabi. Opo.

“Ilan lang ’yan sa mga naranasan ko sa aking naunang amo, yung timbangin ang fresh milk sa kanilang ref para siguraduhing hindi ako kakain o iinom ng kahit isang patak ng kanilang gatas. Yung pakakainin ka ng isang pirasong pakchoy at limang kutsarang kanin, at ang ilalim ng kanilang lababo ang nagsisilbing damitan. Gustong-gusto kong sumuko, gustong-gusto ko nang umuwi sa Pinas, gusto ko nang bumitaw, pero imbes na umuwi sa Pilipinas, minabuti kong maghanap ng ibang amo.”

(I am Mikka Ella Samparada, 35 years old, and I have been a domestic helper in Hong Kong for five years. I still remember the pain of working as an OFW, particularly as a DH. Three hours of sleep, nonstop housework, cooking for five people as if feeding during a fiesta; mountainous loads of laundry; and sleeping at 1 a.m. and needing to wake up at 3 a.m. I experienced so much hardship with my first employer: they weighed the fresh milk in the refrigerator to make sure I never tasted a drop; they fed me a piece of paktsoy and five tablespoons of rice; and they gave me the compartment under the sink as my clothes cabinet. I wanted to quit and go home. But I persevered and looked for another employer instead.)

She got a new employer, a 78-year-old cancer survivor with diabetes and a pacemaker. But an accident shocked her world when her employer almost died. Mikka remembers telling herself she lacked a clinical eye and did not recognize the signs of hypoglycemia. Her employer’s daughter accused her of almost killing her mother.    

During her two-week stay at the hospital, she saw how her employer looked down on her as if she were nothing. She realized that being educated and being a nurse not only saves lives but also gives dignity and respect.

During the caravan, she said that a registered nurse earns more, even though she works longer and harder. “I have to do house cleaning, cook, bathe her, change her diaper, even wash her behind, and all that while enduring insults. I asked myself: is this the only way to work? Am I only good at cleaning the toilet?”

The passage of the Free Higher Education law rekindled her dream of becoming a nurse. I have saved a little, she said, and free higher education can take care of the rest.

She had just enrolled in the nursing program at Laguna State Polytechnic University (LSPU) when I met her during the education caravan. Last year, I saw her Facebook post about the latest results of the PRC Nursing Licensure Examination. Mikka was now a registered nurse.

She is the first to become a nurse in her barangay, and the first to serve in one of the poorest barangays in Magdalena, Laguna.

While waiting for the licensure results to be announced, she remembers praying, “Lord, please help me pass the examinations, and I will serve my community without asking for anything in return.”

As a nurse in her barangay, she now says: “People in my community no longer need to travel far to get their children immunized or to go to a hospital to have their Foley catheter or NGT changed. They no longer need to line up at the public hospital to have their wounds cleaned. I am doing all of this for free.”

While her salary as a DH in Hong Kong is almost the same as her salary as a nurse in the Philippines, she is respected and valued. “Hindi na kubeta ang nililinis ko ngayon, kundi sugat. Bayani na ang tingin sa akin ng mga taong pinaglilingkuran ko; hindi na ako isang domestic helper na may higit sa 15 oras na trabaho. At nakakabili na ako ng sarili kong fresh milk. (I now clean wounds instead of toilets. People see me as a hero instead of a DH who worked for 15 years. And I can now buy my own fresh milk).”

Mikka has completed her journey from being a DH to becoming a nurse. Free higher education has achieved another miracle.