Not Yet Sikat

“Those people have a colonial mindset, and so, do you. They believe the white man is better qualified. And so do you! Over the next seven weeks we need to change your attitude. You are more qualified than they are and you are better. You need to believe that.”

These are excerpts from Antonio Graceffo’s short essay on his experiences as an American studying Emergency Medical Training in Manila. (found via pinoycentric). He makes some poignant observations about the OFW culture:

On overqualified Filipinos…

“The Filipinos are very hard working and I have huge respect for my classmates. You can’t keep them down. A Filipino doctor can’t usually work as a doctor in the US, so they work as nurses. If nurses can’t work as nurses, they work as EMTs. Basically, any Filipino you hire to work for you in the US is probably way over qualified for the position.”

On call center agents…

“So, when you call to ask about the warranty on the new Maytag that you bought, you are calling Manila. But instead of talking to a brain-dead trailer trash kid in Arizona who couldn’t get another job, you are talking to a college graduate, who has been through a lengthy selection process.”

On our sense of humor…

Manila, or at least Cubao, where I live, is loud, dirty, and dangerous. So, it is not the nicest place I have ever lived. But my classmates are great. Filipinos in general are funny people who try to have fun in the face of adversity.

On OFWs…

There are probably very few people anywhere in the world whose family’s sacrificed so much for their children. Who knows what the family had to give up to pay the tuition and accommodation for these bright kids who have come from every corner of Luzon and every island of the Philippines. Very few people would work so hard, just to take a job which they are grossly overqualified for and which will take them away from their families for a period of years.

And he ends with:

Yes, I can say with no reservation, the Pinoys are better.

Read the full story here.