Because of how the Philippines is a melting pot of cultures from all over the world, and because it has such a large population, you have every culture and language of the world here. Due to that, one disease doesn't discriminate. It might happen in one country, or even in your country, but if you have it, it will happen to you.
What we need to do to combat it is to focus on health education. There are people who are unaware of what's going on, so what we do as Filipinos is to go around and educate them. With enough awareness, we can be aware of what's going on.
You asked how I started. As a child, I wanted to save others from what I experienced. I was not educated, but my mother taught me how to care for the sick. By the age of 20, I already worked in the field of health. I got my bachelor's degree in nursing, and I took that job to care for the public and for our community.
If we keep on going down the same path, it is going to worsen.
The Philippines has a problem that we have never had before. When I was a student, most of my classmates were from the middle class. But now, there are people from very poor families, from poor communities, who are graduating.
We need to work hard to improve the poor and the poor conditions of those who have limited access to health care. One of the most important things is to be patient with those who are more needy than us, to try to serve them.
As a nurse, if we don't treat the poor well, how will we be able to work for the rest of the world? The poor and the underprivileged are also part of the solution.
What makes me want to do something is not the lack of a job. I really want to do something for society. A teacher would have been very fulfilling, but now there is something greater out there.
The Philippines has a problem that we have never had before. When I was a student, most of my classmates were from the middle class. But now, there are people from very poor families, from poor communities, who are graduating.
I believe that this is why the problems are multiplying. With more educated people, the society becomes more complicated. It is not easy to be educated, and that is why we have to be very careful with the education.
For the Philippines, it is more than learning about what has happened, it is learning how to stop it from happening again.
