By Tam Natividad
IN a posh village in Dasmariñas, Makati City, there resided Viola (a pseudonym), an 83-year-old single woman, who had spent the last few years of her life in her upscale mansion, alternating trips to the hospital with days spent in her room watching television and going about most of the day in silence.
Such are the people who surround Helen Peroja, 33, a registered midwife and caretaker. For the past 12 years, she’s been working closely with the elderly, most of whom are part of the upper class, with children too busy to visit or family members who hire caretakers, like Peroja, to take care of them in their stead.
Viola was one of Peroja’s most memorable patients. She took care of Viola for five years before the old woman passed away. With a fortune to her name, she had lived in her large home with 2 helpers, one cook, one driver and two caregivers, but Peroja had said visits from her family members were rare. And when Viola’s brother, who had lived a few houses away, died before she did, the visits ceased altogether.
“When she passed away in December last year, I cried. When she was still alive in the hospital, I cried as I thanked her,” Peroja said.
At 50 years senior to her, Viola often gave her caretaker advice on life. Peroja said Viola was the one who convinced her to tie the knot with her live-in partner.
As Peroja was there to witness the last few stages of her patient’s life, so was Viola there to witness milestones in Peroja’s, including the birth of her second child. The two were lucky to have had an instant liking for each other in the early years of their relationship as caretaker and patient.
Peroja said, “In my first few days with her, she told me, ‘You know, Helen, I prayed to find a caregiver who is kind and you were the one He gave me.’ I was moved by what she said.”
Helen shared stories about her other patients and, though none lasted as long as her time with Viola, she said generally working with the elderly has been a happiness in its own way.
As a caregiver, Peroja had worked either the day or night shift, spending every day with her patients and caring for them, as if they were newborns.
Despite some difficulties, she said working with the elderly had given her a sense of fulfillment, and that she hopes to pursue this career for the rest of her life.
Among the difficulties are the ailments her patients endure, ranging from hypertension, all the way to terminal cancer, but, ultimately, she manages to cope with them.
“Some have Alzheimer’s and it’s an enjoyment when they like me. Because they have Alzheimer’s, they lose themselves sometimes, so when they regain mental clarity, even if only briefly, they tell me they really, really like me. It’s very rewarding,” Peroja said.
For a 12-hour shift, Peroja is usually paid P900 to P1,500. Though it is above the minimum, Peroja said for her and her two kids, it is just enough to get by.
“That’s already OK. You get a salary and, if the relatives and the patient are kind, that is a benefit in itself,” she said.
Though the family culture in the country is well-knit even when children themselves have their own families, Peroja said the reason she is employed is because there are no family members willing or available to take care of their elderly on a round-the-clock basis.
“It is needed. What if your children are busy with their own work? Of course, the elderly need assistance. I think all who can afford a caregiver would want to hire one,” she said.
Many caregivers and midwives like Peroja find employment on their own, scouring newspapers for openings or being referred to new patients by their colleagues.