“Even though we have changed and we are all finding our own place in the world, we all know that when the tears fall or the smile spreads across our face, we are all come to each other because no matter where this crazy world takes us, nothing will ever change so much to the point where we are not all still friends.”
This is a story of how some Filipinos treasured friendships and loyalty to one another while living here in the UK, wherein you are a friend if they needed you, but when time that you needed them they will push you out on their way....
This is a true to life story of Cathy, Miriam, Susan, Aimee, Roxanne and Gaye.
Chapter One
When a person who has not done one half his day's work by ten o clock, runs a chance of leaving the other half undone. Because prosperity as wealth works exactly the same as everything else. You will see it coming into your life when you are unattached to needing it. And when it comes, do not use all of it.
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| Birmingham City |
Cathy arrived on November 2006 in Birmingham, United Kingdom under a work permit visa as a senior carer. It is very difficult for her at that time because she did not know the place and nobody will help her. She lived in the nursing home where she has worked. Life is a struggle for her. She cannot even afford to buy her basic daily needs for a month, how much more to rent her own accommodation. The only money she had is a one thousand peso bill and a couple of dollars amounting to US$50, which her aunt gave her in NAIA.
Cathy came from a middle class family from Mindanao, she had a three children and her husband was a public servant as well as her parents. She decided to come to the UK with the same reason of most Filipinos, seeking a better life and a greener pasture.
After a month the company transferred her to Bristol. This time she rented a flat with her friend Roxanne where she met in Birmingham nursing home, both of them were transferred in Bristol. Roxanne came to the UK a month before Cathy, they are roommates in the nursing home where they lived and work. She came from a poor family but happened to marry a rich man in the Philippines which is five years her senior , she did not like this man, I do not know why!... She just married him to give her a better life.
So both of them rented a flat near their work place, but the thing is this flat is expensive 625 pounds a month, but they can do nothing because they needed to. One day their home manager told Cathy that there are three Filipinos that will arrived that day, and they need an accommodation because she cannot let them stay in the home because it is an inspection month, and workers living in the nursing home are not permitted. Cathy and Roxanne agreed the request of their manager, because they think that they can save, because they are now five persons that will divide the monthly rent of 625 pounds per month as well as the expenses.
So Cathy, Roxanne, Susan, Miriam, Aimee lived together in the two bed room flat. Susan, Miriam, Aimee stayed in the bigger room whiles Cathy and Roxanne stayed the smaller room with a double decker bed. As Susan Miriam and Aimee is still less than a month in the care home, they computed that they do not have enough earnings so Cathy gave them some of her duties so that they can have enough money to pay the 125 pounds rent and some bills such as council tax, electricity bills, and for their food. As a new comer and nothing to spend they usually ask for food from Cathy because there pocket money from home was already far more run out. So with the help of Cathy they do not have the hard time when they arrived here in the UK "they are lucky as we speak". Roxanne did not mind them she just ask their share of the expenses no matter what.
After three months while Susan, Miriam, Aimee are already settled, life is much better for them, they can now afford to send money back home and do shopping for themselves. While they went shopping in the city center of Bristol they happened to met another Filipino named Sophia who married a British national. Sophia had a room which she wanted to be rented of at least 200 pounds including the bills. As the three now has more earnings than before they wanted to rent a room of their own with a cheaper price and to save more money . So they agreed to rent two rooms from Sophia's house. The bad thing is when they are ready to transfer they did not inform Cathy in person. They only texted her after they collected their stuff while she is on duty.
They transferred without paying their share of the rent and bills. With the same rate of salary (5.95pounds a hour) Cynthia carried all the burdens to pay all the expenses. As a result it compromises her remittance to her family back home and destroyed her credit ratings. Credit rating is your rate to have a chance to borrow money from the banks or any other lending company. As a result she cannot barrow money any where until now.
Chapter Two
Honesty is the rarest wealth anyone can possess, and yet all the honesty in the world is not lawful tender for a loaf of bread. And marriages would be better if the husband and the wife clearly understood that they are on the same side.
Roxanne met a Pakistani national when they are still at Birmingham which visited her in Bristol often. They become so close and build a relationship. One time when Roxanne's husband phoned her she never answered the phone because she was on the bed with her boyfriend. So Roxanne's husband Philip phone up Cathy to ask why Roxanne was not answering her phone. Cathy phoned Roxanne to inquire where she is. Roxanne told Cathy to create some lies to tell to her husband. So Cathy lied to the husband of Roxanne that she was not on their flat because she is on the city center to do shopping. But in fact it was Roxanne which is not there because she was with her Pakistani boyfriend doing some "kolokadidang" in New Castle.
After some pressure of her husband Roxanne went home to the Philippines because every time when he phone her, he need to phone Cathy first because he cannot contact her directly. And Cathy told Roxanne that next time her husband will phone her she will not lie anymore she will tell the truth of her whereabouts. And Roxanne's manager scolded her because she was involved in some trouble in the Nursing home where she worked which was started as a chismis (gossip) which Susan, Aimee, Miriam were also involved. Roxanne went home without a good relationship with Cathy and with a scandalous secret which only Cathy knows until now.
February 2007 Gaye transferred to the nursing home which Cathy had worked. She transferred there because it is the only nursing home she knows that offer a ONP (Overseas Nursing Program). Gaye asks Cathy if she can live with her in the flat. Cathy living alone and having a big problem with the bills and rent agreed the request of Gaye. Gaye worked as a student nurse and happened to make a friend with one of the relative of her patient named Brian. Brian and Gaye's friendship is particularly close and end into interpersonal relationship that involves physical or emotional intimacy. Gaye came from a well off family and had a four children back home, her husband was a lawyer and the family came from in a chain of professionals with good career backgrounds. Gaye sometimes bring Brian to the flat where she stayed with Cathy where they make their "kolokadidang" session. When Cathy's husband arrived from the Philippines he doesn't want of what Gaye was doing because he knew her husband, it was his classmate before, and Gaye does not know it. In 2008, Gaye went home to the Philippines which give a chance of Cathy's husband to text his classmate of what his wife doing in United Kingdom. The text created a chaos and fight between Gaye and her husband which resulted her to stay with her sister, while she is on her vacation. Gaye went back to Britain and transferred to Brian's house.
Chapter Three
The conscious process is reflected in the imagination; the unconscious process is expressed as karma, the generation of actions divorced from thinking and alienated from feeling. And man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.
Cathy is so troubled because she doesn't have savings and she need the job very badly. She managed to apply in a two nursing home, one in Liverpool and one in Wales. But Susan, Aimee, and Miriam are in real trouble because they did not manage to apply. The immigration officer rebooked the work permit of Aimee because she did not manage to look for another employment and was scheduled for deportation on the following week. But Aimee did not report to the immigration and instead chooses to run and hide until now. The latest news from her friends is that Aimees is in a prostitute den somewhere in London.
Miriam decided to marry her Moldovan boyfriend where she met in the nursing home where she had worked. Even she did not really like him because the guy sometimes hurt her but she doesn't have a choice, she doesn't want to go back home. Her latest news was she is very bored and wanted to go back to the Philippines but her husband doesn't want to save money for the fare and Miriam doesn't have a job.
Chapter Four
She who does not feel her friends to be the world to her, does not deserve that the world should hear of her. And those who tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something she doesn't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what she does have......
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| Cardiff City |
One day when Cathy was off ( her husband went to London), she was ask by Susan to watch her kids, because her husband went to the town center to buy some groceries and she will go to work. Cathy agreed to watch Susan's children while their father went to the town center. Five hours had pass when Cathy told the 3 years old that their father was away and they should be on her sight and stop jumping around and they might have an accident, the 5 years old talked back to her and told her that their father was not in the town center but he was there in their room doing something in the computer. So Cathy knock the door of Susan's room and when nobody answered she open it and saw the husband of Susan just playing his laptop and do some chatting in Facebook. On her disappointment she collected the children and let them in to their room with their father. Instead of having, Cathy went out that day and went to the city center to do some window shopping and went to the bank to send money back home. She was watching Susan's children while their father was just playing his computer and do nothing but just doing lazy and gave his responsibility to other people for five hours. After that incident Susan and Cathy doesn't had a good communication and their relationship once again slowly faded. And susan transfred to a council house to save more money eventhough her visa stated the restriction "no recurse to public funds."
Chapter Five
“Hope is the most exciting thing in life and if you honestly believe that success is out there, it will come. And even if it doesn't come straight away there is still that chance all through your life that it will. And It is possible to fail in many ways...while to succeed is possible only in one way."
The following month after Cathy was granted the indefinite leave to remain, Susan and her family applied for ILR visa in person same with Cathy. Unfortunately their application was rejected because of the reason that they avail a council house even their visa had a restriction on public funds, and their income is not enough to sustain themselves to live in Britain. They were given a week time to go back home.