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History
in the Netherlands
a long list of vacancies to fill. The country's manpower was not enough to cope up with the industrial acceleration and the poor guy was practically at the end of his wits, when Flores appeared. He could not care less who or where this brown guy came from, he had an applicant, that was enough. He served him coffee and in the course of the interview told Flores he may be the first Filipino to join the labour force of the country. He chose for him an American multinational company.
As the years passed, the couple noted the population of Filipinos in this country was rapidly growing but there was lack of sufficient information from home and that which affects their own countrymen in Holland and nearby countries. In 1988, the couple, (together with Jorge Carreon) pioneered the publication of the first Filipino community news-information magazine, Munting Nayon. In 1991, Jorge left Munting Nayon.
ARRIVALS IN WAVES - DOCTORS, NURSES, MIDWIVES, SEAMSTRESSES, ENTERTAINERS
When the then Princess Beatrix visited the Philippines she noted the high percentage of graduates in the medical field. Returning home from her trip she told the Dutch hospital authorities of the great number of English-speaking nurses which the Philippines can supply. Among the sectors that lacked personnel were the hospitals and contract-nurses from another country may be the solution. Without much ado, the proposal to employ Philippine nurses was approved.
Two groups of Philippine nurses with an employment contract for three years arrived in 1964. All nurses were assigned in the university hospital in Utrecht.
Twenty-nine more nurses were recruited in 1965 for Leiden university hosptal. Many of these nurses had specialized in certain areas and held responsible positions in various hospitals in the United States, Canada and even in the Philippines but they were lured by the beauty of Europe which they have only seen in movies and the thrilling adventures in another continent.
A few days after they arrived, the nurses' excitement turned to shock when told serving coffee, cleaning and dusting their wards were included in their work. Resentments and disagreements ensued.
In the negotiations in Manila, no one among the concerned parties, officials and the nurses themselves, foresaw a major problem to come up. Never did it cross their minds that there may be differences in the standard of the nursing profession in their countries. The signing went off without a hitch, in good faith and friendly atmosphere.
To prevent further escalation of the problem, hospital officials and the Philippine Ambassador Delfin R. Garcia and Minister Petronilo Dulay met and in the discussions, the diplomats proposed the employment of midwives to do practical nurse work.
The registered nurses were given the option to break or finish their contract. Half of them left for the United States and Canada before their term ended.
The Dutch hospital authorities again went to the Philippines, this time to recruit midwives.
AROUND THIS TIME, three doctors arrived, Dr. Elizabeth Malonga, surgeon; Dr. Erlinda Villanueva from her specialization in obstetrics-gynecology at Mt. Sinai in the United States; and Dr. Zenaida Manago, anesthesiologist who had to stop working early due to illness. All three started at St. Lukas Ziekenhuis.
Dr. Malonga was later connected with Academisch Medisch Centrum until her retirement.
Filipino History
