Journey from being scammed to success: OFW becomes healthcare assistant

Dubai, United Arab Emirates —A fellow Filipino gypped her into taking jobs as a household service worker (HSW) until she finally had enough and upgraded herself, taking a course on healthcare assistant (HCA) at a training school run by a kabayan. Now, she works at a hospital.

Such, in a nutshell, is the journey of 40-year-old Jenny Valencia, a high school graduate of Taytay, Rizal, who went to Dubai in 2019 to look for work.

Scammed

“Noong unang dating ko, naloko ako. Akala ko maganda ang work. Pero ang nag- recruit sa akin dito na kabayan pinagka-perahan lang ako. Pinasok ako sa iba’t ibang amo bilang kasambahay,” said Valencia, the eldest of five siblings.

(I was scammed when I first came here. I thought the job was good. But it turned out, the person who recruited me, a compatriot, only wanted my money. I was made to work for different employers.)

Valencia, whose last work in the Philippines was as a mall staff, finally got a two-year contract with an employer in Abu Dhabi also as an HSW. She was making AED1,500 ($408) a month.

“Kahit mahirap tinapos ko kontrata ko. After ng contract, lumabas na ko at naghanap ng trabaho, naging office girl. After noon, nag-apply ako sa isang clinic," said Valencia, who has two children, the eldest being 23 years old.

(I finished the contract, no matter how difficult the work was. After that, I got a job as an office girl, then a clinic worker.)
BMTI
This was when she saw on Facebook about Brilliant Mindz Training Institute (BMTI), which gives courses on a range of topics – from culinary to medical assistant – and is run by a Filipino, Kristine Ruelos, herself a former UAE-registered nurse.

“Nag-chat agad ako at nag-enroll kasi sabi ko baka heto na, matutupad na ang pangarap ko na tumaas sahod at mabago trabaho ko,” said Valencia.

(I chatted and enrolled at once because I was telling myself, this could be it, my dreams of getting better pay and a change in work.)

New beginnings

Valencia said she looked for a job while completing her schooling with BMTI and her work contract. She got hired by a medical center as an HCA where she has been working for two months now.

“Salamat at nakita ko ang BMTI, may natutunan ako at ngayon naibana trabaho ko, nasa nursing na ako,” she said.

(I am thankful that I found BMTI, I learned new things and now, my work has changed. I am now in the nursing field.)

Ruelos, BMTI owner and managing director, said the AED2,400 ($650) course involves six months of weekend, classroom classes plus 80 hours of internship at a hospital.

“Hers is a reminder that it is never the end of the world, so long as there is hope,” she said.—LDF, GMA Integrated News