On the Kanlungan website, one sees row after row of smiling brown faces, most of them immigrated to the U.S. or Great Britain to shore up a gap in health care workers. Hundreds of them. All of them died from the coronavirus.
Finally, a group has taken up the task of honoring the hundreds, thousands of workers -- nurses, health techs, doctors, senior caregivers and related field -- who have died taking care of coronavirus patients.
When the coronavirus began spreading in the U.S., knowing the disproportionate number of Filipino healthcare workers in the U.S. hospitals, I began reporting their deaths.
My purpose was two-fold: One, to pay tribute to the Filipino healthcare workers in the U.S.; Two, to bring attention to the vital role they play in the healthcare system.
It started out one death a week, then two and three a week. Then I began getting reports from Great Britain of the nurses dying in the National Health Service. The task was made. difficult because, back then -- a whole seven months ago but it feels like a year -- no one was keeping track of the ethnicity of the fatalities from the coronavirus. Finally, the task overwhelmed me, a lone blog written by an ex-journalist. I gave up because they were coming in too fast.
Since the 1960s, there have been over 150,000 Filipino nurses who have migrated to the U.S. They make up about 4% of the registered nurses in the country. In California, Filipinos make up about 20% of the nurses.
Added to this number are multiple generations of U.S.-born Filipino Americans who carry on the family tradition of nursing.
My purpose was two-fold: One, to pay tribute to the Filipino healthcare workers in the U.S.; Two, to bring attention to the vital role they play in the healthcare system.
It started out one death a week, then two and three a week. Then I began getting reports from Great Britain of the nurses dying in the National Health Service. The task was made. difficult because, back then -- a whole seven months ago but it feels like a year -- no one was keeping track of the ethnicity of the fatalities from the coronavirus. Finally, the task overwhelmed me, a lone blog written by an ex-journalist. I gave up because they were coming in too fast.
Today, it is hard to keep pace. It feels like the deaths of Filipino caregivers working in hospital ERs and CCUs, group homes for seniors or assisted living facilities is being recorded daily.
The Kanlungan website was founded by Jollene Levid, a Los Angeles resident, who noted the difficulty of keeping track of all the Filipinos dying from the pandemic.
After a couple of aunts died after contracting the virus from paitents they were caring for, she found out that no one had a data based identifying the Filipino victims.
"Every single day, we're still combing the news. We're still checking to see if more testimony have been submitted by loved ones," Levid told an NPR interviewer.
The Kanlungan website was founded by Jollene Levid, a Los Angeles resident, who noted the difficulty of keeping track of all the Filipinos dying from the pandemic.
After a couple of aunts died after contracting the virus from paitents they were caring for, she found out that no one had a data based identifying the Filipino victims.
"Every single day, we're still combing the news. We're still checking to see if more testimony have been submitted by loved ones," Levid told an NPR interviewer.
Making the task more difficult is that many hospitals and care facilities don't record the race of employees claimed by the virus. Clues of their ethnicity come their name or a photo, searching through their social media.
Kanlungan, which means "refuge" or "sanctuary," was created as a memorial to the people of Philippine ancestry who make up a huge sector of the global healthcare system. "This to remember them as human beings," says the website, "not simply as a labor percentage, a disease statistic or an immigration number."
What is surprising is according to Kanlungan data, three times the number of Filipino healthcare workers have perished in the United States than in the Philippines.
The Philippines continues to be the leading exporter of professional nurses to the U.S., although the ways they immigrate have changed over time, says UC Berkeley ethnic studies professor Catherine Ceniza Choy, author of the 2003 book, "Empire of Care," based on her research on nursing and migration in Filipino American history.
Kanlungan, which means "refuge" or "sanctuary," was created as a memorial to the people of Philippine ancestry who make up a huge sector of the global healthcare system. "This to remember them as human beings," says the website, "not simply as a labor percentage, a disease statistic or an immigration number."
What is surprising is according to Kanlungan data, three times the number of Filipino healthcare workers have perished in the United States than in the Philippines.
The Philippines continues to be the leading exporter of professional nurses to the U.S., although the ways they immigrate have changed over time, says UC Berkeley ethnic studies professor Catherine Ceniza Choy, author of the 2003 book, "Empire of Care," based on her research on nursing and migration in Filipino American history.
About one-third of all foreign-born nurses in the U.S. are Filipino. And because they are most likely to work in acute care, medical/surgical, and ICU nursing, many “FilAms” are on the front lines of care for Covid-19 patients.
Since the 1960s, there have been over 150,000 Filipino nurses who have migrated to the U.S. They make up about 4% of the registered nurses in the country. In California, Filipinos make up about 20% of the nurses.
Added to this number are multiple generations of U.S.-born Filipino Americans who carry on the family tradition of nursing.
Kanlungang is supported as a project of AF3IRM, formerly known as GABRIELA. "a transnational feminist organization."
AF3IRM is an acronym, which stands for Association of Filipinas, Feminists Fighting Imperialism, Re-Feudalization, and Marginalization. The Filipinas in our name refers to our history prior to our evolution to becoming AF3IRM — we previously organized as GABRIELA Network. It’s not an easy acronym but it speaks to how we are anti-imperialist, transnational feminist and against oppression in all its forms,” said Barbara Ramos, AF3IRM's communications director in the Los Angeles Times.
If you wish to honor a healthcare worker of Filipino descent who died from the virus, submit your information here.
If you wish to honor a healthcare worker of Filipino descent who died from the virus, submit your information here.
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