REFLECTIONS
REFLECTIONS: GEMS AMONG US
AUTHOR Teresita Bacani-Oropilla, MD
S
he came bouncing into the assist-
ed living facility room asking what
she could do. She moved with
alacrity. She opened the windows,
made the bed, helped the resident
get ready for the day. For a newbie,
she did the work efficiently in no
time. Intrigued with her social skills, her ac-
cented fluency, her neatly braided cornrows, a little digging re-
vealed she had been an English teacher in Africa. On a scholarship
in a university in this country, she was caught by political unrest,
ended up staying and is now working her way back up.
Aware of the variety of languages used by her coworkers in
similar working circumstances, curiosity revealed a rich lode of
professionals and non-professionals among us, all on their way up!
Physicians and nurses in their native Cuba, unable to go
through US residencies and nursing schools for retraining or pro-
fessional boards due to age or financial needs, end up being nurs-
ing aides. Some get to become certified medical assistants who
pass out medications where they once used to prescribe them.
Out in the community, we meet and see younger doctors,
already trained in their countries, working as aides in emergen-
cy rooms awaiting a chance to retrain in the US system despite
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LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
having passed equivalent US medical boards. Engineers, once
heads of departments, end up in hotels doing housekeeping and
maintenance; teachers become nannies or elderly caretakers in-
stead of using their talents on classes for children. The man cut-
ting branches that obstruct electric wire for LG&E has a family to
feed in Guatemala; another bent over in an automobile repair shop
sends his farming family cash in Mexico. A grandmother work-
ing in housekeeping has several grandchildren she is supporting
in school in Liberia. She wants them to finish college before she
retires. Unheralded, these intrepid, hard-working, humble men
and women struggle in the shadows. They come to the USA to
be free of political retributions, fear of death and uncontrollable
circumstances locally, hopes for financial security, and plans for
education of their children. In the meantime, it seems such a waste
that their true talents are not used in appropriate ways. They have
the courage to start all over and continue to achieve their dreams
for themselves and their loved ones.
Like gems under drab ores, they need to be uncovered and pol-
ished to reveal their best luster and fulfill all the promise that life
can hold.
Dr. Bacani-Oropilla is a retired psychiatrist.