REFLECTIONS
REFLECTIONS : MIGRATE , BUT WHY ? AUTHOR Teresita Bacani-Oropilla , MD
In the recent state of relative turmoil in the
good old US , one of the questions being asked is , “ Why do people still want to migrate to the US ?”
Why leave the country of your birth , the beloved families who nurtured you , your lifelong friends and the present good that you are doing ? Why leave the people who need your help ? Why leave the culture and customs that you cherish and wish to pass on to your children ? Why ?
Here is one story among myriad others . It is our story .
In our midforties , my engineer husband and I were successful middle class professionals . He built the first abaca decorticating plant in the Philippines ( abaca is a plant whose fiber can become fabrics , ropes , etc ). President Magsaysay came to visit his plant . I had a flourishing quasi pediatric-family practice after a residency at the University of Louisville in 1956-58 .
The patients were poor . They came from the neighboring little villages and farms that could be reached by jeep . I treated patients with tropical diseases , diarrhea , malnutrition , tuberculosis , cholera and various types of injuries . I started immunizations , gave lectures to mothers and provided samples of medications and formula . Why leave such useful work ? That is what I went to medical school for ! I Ioved it !
However at that time , Vietnam fell to the communists , then Laos and Cambodia killings followed . Intellectuals were sent to work on farms and students missed school .
Our priest friends , American Maryknolls , suggested that the Philippines might be next , so we should leave before it happened . Sure enough , communist sympathizers had already started collecting food from the farmers under threat of death and were coming closer to the towns .
It took four years for our petition to be approved to enter the US ( 1968 to 1972 ). Because of the havoc being created by the insurgents , President Marcos declared martial law .
We were lucky to be allowed to leave the Philippines with $ 1,500 ($ 500 each for adults and $ 250 each for our son and daughter , ages 11 and 10 ) in March 1973 .
Every immigrant who leaves his or her roots to enter another country has a reason to do so . It could be fear of death or violence , hopelessness for the fate of their children , poverty , the risk of intellectual or religious persecution or intimidation by a country ’ s policies .
All immigrants have to start over , relinquish their old ways of life , suffer some indignities and discrimination , accept charity , if available , and abide by the new rules of their adopted country .
Like a marriage , immigrants have to prosper in their new country so that they too may prosper . You blend for better or for worse .
Would you risk and say “ yes ” to America ? And migrate ? We did .
Update 2020 : The Philippines remains a republic and did not fall into communist rule . From being homelesss and jobless , we prayed and worked our way back to practice our professions .
Our children are now practicing physicians . Their children have followed their examples and are on their way to do the same .
We are all US citizens . God bless us all .
Dr . Bacani-Oropilla is a retired pediatrician and child psychiatrist .
OCTOBER 2020 23