TORONTO -- Throughout her career, registered psychotherapist Elda Almario has spent a great deal putting the mental health of children she works with ahead of her own. But during the pandemic, she says, itâs become even less likely for her to âtake a break and reflect.â
Over the past few months, Filipina front-line workers like Almario have found an outlet to relieve bottled-up anxiety, loneliness and fear: Writing their stories down and sharing them.
âAllowing space for my experience to come to the surface became a form of self-care for me,â Almario told CTVNews.ca in an email. âIt was great to have a voice and be heard especially during a time when I have been so focused on my work due to increased demands and complex needs.â
The âStories of Careâ writing initiative, run through North York Community House in Toronto, virtually brings together front-line workers such as nurses, retail workers, at-home caretakers, dental hygienists, and cleaners, to share burdens theyâve mostly carried alone.
âIt gives me strength, I feel encouraged because I know that no matter what we are facing, we face it with courage, resilience, and positivity and we continue to love what we do,â Olivia Dela Cruz, a paid caretaker of a household of six children, told CTVNews.ca in an email. âMy respect [is for] all frontline workers because they all put others before themselves.â
Jennifer Chan, the lead organizer of the initiative, told CTVNews.ca in a video interview that the writers âfeel seen and heard in a completely different way.â She said one participant told her, âit was so meaningful to get to write my story and just spend time thinking about me.â
Filipinx people play a crucial role on Canadaâs front lines, making up one in 20 health-care workers, . A third of internationally trained nurses in the country are from the Philippines, according to the ; with Filipinos making up providing in-home care under Canadaâs Caregiver Program.
EXPERIENCES CAPTURED IN ART
Chan was inspired to start the program through her work with North York Community House, where she regularly consults with caregivers from the Philippines, who need help filling out government documents.
She and her colleagues were noticing âa lot of stuff coming to the surfaceâ and they wanted to give them an outlet.
âStories of Careâ began last summer as a six-week writing course for a few Filipina front-line workers, and has since grown in attendance and centred on less-time-intensive sessions.
As of last Friday, some of the stories are now featured in a , based on three Filipinx artists who âread the stories [and] took inspiration from them,â Chan said.
â a term for Filipinx people living outside of the Philippines -- shows a fruit falling to the ground, turning into a box, crossing the sea, hitting the shore and growing into a tree. This signifies people starting a new life in Canada. The title also refers to the care packages or âBalikbayan boxesâ that are sent back to the Philippines.
features an animated circle of faces encircling alternating excerpts about workersâ fears, including getting COVID-19 on the job.
Another piece holding a sign reading, âwe love to deliver,â contrasted with alternating English and Tagalog phrases such as: âI need to sacrifice my comfort for my family,â âI didnât want to move to Canadaâ and âMigration is no guarantee for a better future.â
âHaving artists make renditions of our stories gives us the validation that our stories are valuable,â Gretchen Mangahas, a communications specialist and newcomer to Canada, told CTVNews.ca in an email.
âI felt the power of stories in the shared lived experiences of my Filipina sisters,â she said. âI knew that I was not alone, and that the connection opens opportunities to learn how to navigate in a new country I would call home. It has also created friendships and new avenues for sharing with others.â
FILIPINX FRONT-LINE WORKERS FEEL 'OVERSIZED TOLL'
Last fall, the Migrant Workers Alliance For Change alleging that throughout the pandemic, migrant care workers were subjected to entrapment, long hours, and thousands of dollars in stolen wages by exploitative employers.
Chan said some writers âwere feeling stuck in their employer situationâ and thought about quitting, but knew it would mean they couldnât provide for family back home and might potentially lose permanent residency status.
Medical news publication also reported that COVID-19 has taken an âoutsized tollâ on mental and physical well-being for Filipino front-line workers in the U.S. Chan said the same could be seen in Canada.
âThey need an outlet to reflect through their own stories⌠weâre not hearing enough from them,â she said. Chan said attendees had a lot of cultural habits to overcome initially, including so-called âtoxic positivityâ and the âongoing feeling that these women feel that they have to feel grateful to be here.â
Many worried about their families back home in the Philippines, which was hit by multiple . Chan said others wrote about the strict lockdown measures in the country and about ânot being able to go home. Not feeling safe here or there.â
Although most people today are only being able to connect with family over video or the phone, thatâs what immigrants have done for decades, said magazine editor Justine Abigail Yu, who facilitates the writing workshop in both English and Tagalog.
âLoving from afarâ was a big theme in their writing, she told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. âObviously the conditions are quite different on an extreme level, but weâve always had to show our family who are living in entirely different countries how we care for them and how we love them.â
The organizers said front-line workersâ feelings of isolation and homesickness while living in Canada have only been amplified by the pandemic.
Yu, the founder of magazine Living Hyphen, created an environment where Filipina workers could open up to themselves and to others.
âSo many of these caregivers and our immigrant families, we just want to survive. We move to Canada, work our asses off to get by and to make sure that weâre providing for our children and thereâs no room to tell stories,â she said. Yu's role involved âbreaking down that barrier first and foremost.â
And the investment appears to have paid off.
âIn more ways than one, we deeply resonated with each otherâs experience,â Almario said. âI gained a sense of belongingness and community, the feeling of not being alone.â
Caregiver and single mother Dela Cruz agreed, saying being a part of this project âbrings back so many memories that I thought completely forgotten. Stories about me that I never thought I will have the courage to share.â