Capturing the spirit of Filipinos working abroad
One of the many things I look forward to when visiting the Philippines is to watch a Filipino movie. And what a coincidence! Showing during my latest visit was the boxoffice hit Caregiver, shot in London and Manila and starring the country’s top female actress, Sharon Cuneta. I’m not an OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker), having arrived in Ireland primarily not to work but to settle with my Irish husband whom I met in the Philippines. But having socialised and empathised with many friends in Dublin over the last 30 years who are OFWs, I understand the hard realities of working away from one’s homeland.
Caregiver reminds us of the millions of OFWs toiling in foreign lands so that their loved ones back home can have a better life. Who would have imagined a century ago that there would be a diaspora, and that those Filipino workers – professionals, skilled, unskilled – would populate every nook and cranny of the world? The film was not meant to be a melodrama, but it could be a four-hanky movie for many who can identify with it, whether they are caregivers themselves or families and friends of OFWs who experience what it is like to be left behind, and are aware of their many sacrifices abroad.
The story revolves around Sarah, a schoolteacher, who is set to join her husband Teddy (John Estrada), a nurse in London. While preparing for her trip abroad – attending a school for caregivers – she learns that she is being considered to head the English department at her workplace. She is, after all, a very thorough and conscientious teacher. At the same time, she is also trying to cope with her only son, who is beginning to act up. The first third of the movie deals with Sarah’s pre-departure misgivings, establishing the complications and difficulties of leaving one’s fulfilling but not financially rewarding job, leaving one’s supportive family network and relocating abroad. At least Sarah has a husband waiting for her in London.
But London is not a bed of roses. Even living with Teddy does not make things easier. He is a ‘pain in the neck’, to say the least; he has demons to conquer and is trying to cope with a job situation that does not do much for his self-esteem. Sarah accidentally finds out early on that Teddy is not working as a nurse, but as a hospital attendant who does the garbage. But so what? Even their friend Joseph – a doctor – has become a nurse, and takes orders from a white doctor who almost kills a patient if not for Joseph’s intervention.
The first days at the nursing home prove a challenge for Sarah. She washes a cranky lady resident who has soiled her nappy, while fellow caregiver Karen (Rica Paralejo) tells her to grit her teeth. Soon Sarah gets shifted to grumpy old Mr Morgan who, due to Sarah’s loving care, eventually demonstrates his better side. She reads him Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles, and gets to interact with Mr Morgan’s family. She spends a week in his family home and is pampered with care and attention. This grumpy old friend then leaves Sarah a priceless gift – the first edition of Tess of the d’Urbervilles.
However, there is trouble on the home front. Sarah and Teddy still have no savings for “show money” to bring their son to join them. Teddy has been spending uselessly; he’s been drinking, and goes into a rage at the slightest provocation. He wants to go home to the Philippines. Sarah asks: And then what? Caregiver is also about finding oneself, and one’s real happiness. Should an OFW remain a martyr-victim all his or her life? Sarah eventually realises that she was trying too hard to carry life’s burden on her own. Life’s ending is not always happy, but the fact that Sarah fulfilled her promise to her son is enough to make everything bearable at the end.
The movie is courageous enough to crush family ties and/or marriage in order to drive home a point. It was a very daring move.
