By Effie Marks-Mendoza

Amsterdam-September 29, 2007

On 29th September 2007, members of the Filipino Nurses Group 1967 celebrated the 40th anniversary of their arrival at the St. Lucas Ziekenhuis in Amsterdam. The event was attended by 13 from the original group. Also some Dutch colleagues came, as well as Dr. Beth Mallonga and Dr. Linda Kars-Villanueva. It was very moving to meet colleagues whom we haven't seen for a very long time, but we also had lots of laughs recalling all the silly experiences we had in the early days.

Dhr. Van Gaelen, member of the Board of Directors of what's now Lucas Andreas Ziekenhuis, gave us a real treat. With very kind words he lifted up our shoulders and spirits, praising all the hard work we did for St. Lucas. It was a whole day affair, with refreshments and cake upon arrival, a lavish buffet luncheon, and in conclusion, wine and hors d'oeuvres. The highlights of the event were pictures, a video and a slideshow from our last reunion held in Toronto, Canada. There were volunteers who gave us a tour of the hospital, which we could hardly recognize as it has grown enormously!

Literally and figuratively, we had set up St. Lucas hospital in August of 1967, as many departments hadn't yet opened due to a shortage of staff. The, after a couple of months, Princess Margriet came to open it officially. It was a spectacular event!

The initial three year contract was hard: the difficult language and we were homesick but we coped with all the obstacles we came upon with the help of our Matron, Ms. Elzien Schendstok. She helped us integrate into the Dutch way of life by organizing some weekends with Dutch families. It's still clear in my mind: my first stay with a Dutch family in Emmeloord, surrounded by water and very flat lands. I was with Myrna Adams and their daughter who was a student nurse in the VU. My first Sint Nicolaas party and first experience with snow! It was freezing cold in that house as they only have one fireplace in the living room and no heating in the bedrooms, but the lady of the house filled up some hot water bottles and put them under the blankets to keep the beddings warm. In the evening after dinner they celebrated Sint. Nicolaas. We exchanged gifts and read poems; we couldn't understand a thing but the daughter was our translator. In the morning, we were surprised to see so much snow in the fields, and - in spite of the cold - we went outside to satisfy our curiosity: I scooped up a handful of snow to taste it, it had no taste but we had fun!

... 40 years ago!!!

From weekend trips in the provinces we started to spread our wings abroad, traveling to London, Switzerland, Paris and Rome. Then, after three years, came the time to go home for a vacation. Some left Holland for good, but most of us extended our contracts over and over again, and who could have thought in the beginning that we would make Holland our Home Sweet Home. Some of the original 50 group members have unfortunately passed on, left this world too early, and hopefully they have found peace and comfort in their eternal resting place. We remember them dearly as they were part of our lives.

Our group of 1967 and colleagues and friends continue to keep in touch as part of a big family. We have a website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LucasNurses, so if you're interested, feel free to log on, become a member (no charge!) and enjoy all the features such as exchanging messages with other members and viewing the pictures posted. For more info, contact me at marks_effie05@yahoo.com.

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