Politics

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50: Paramedic School Philippines 1 Update

By Antonio Graceffo

If you are a lazy read, here is the summary: I made it to Philippines. Through the help of my Kuntaw instructor, Master Frank, I am enrolled in an EMT course in Manila. The course starts on Monday, March 10. The owner of the school took pity on me when I told him about my work in Burma . He discounted the course 50% for me. I have more or less enough money to get started but have no idea how I will survive financially till the end. So, I still need help from anyone willing to be a sponsor. When I finish the training here, I will return to Shanland and the Burma border and volunteer my new services. While I am here, I am still publishing one story and one video per week, about Burma , to raise awareness of the war there.

If you are interested in hearing the whole story and I like hearing about miracles and the inherent goodness of man, read on.

At the last minute it looked like I wouldn’t have money for paramedic school in Philippines . I was waiting for a couple of donors to come through as well as some miracles.

A friend on Cebu island found a course for me, beginning Monday, March 3. Some money came in toward the end of the last week of February but it wasn’t enough to buy a ticket to Cebu . I thought about it overnight and decided to contact Master Frank. I had enough to fly to Manila , but not much else. Master Frank used to be a paramedic, and I was hoping he could help me find a course.

He took me to the school today, and it turns out that it is foreign owned, the number one school in the Philippines . The exam is given here, but graded and accredited in Australia . So when we graduate we are already fully qualified for a job in Australia or any of the Arab states which normally recruit workers from the Philippines . The school even has job placement. But I promised to return to Shanland and Burma for several months and volunteer before seeking gainful employment.

The Philippines doesn’t have a full paramedic course designed yet, but they have a number of advanced courses and the school has connections with hospitals, so the owner said as long as I am able to hang on financially in the Philippines , he can keep training me and sending me to different hospitals to gain experience.

Luckily, working EMS in Manila I will probably get to see some gun shot wounds to prepare me for Burma.

This week, Master Frank and I are finishing my black belt in Kuntaw. He also enrolled me in a course at the university, on weekends, to get certified as an instructor of Philippine stick fighting, Arnis.

The miracles in my story are: Master Frank found this excellent EMT course for me and let me stay at his house this week before the course begins. The next one is a friend of mine in Thailand arranged a sponsor to help underwrite the cost of my tuition. The big one is that the owner of the school, after hearing about Burma , grabbed my application out of my hand and wrote “50% discount” at the top. I was so grateful. If he hadn’t done that I couldn’t even get started.

The major financial obstacle now is that I have to move out of Master Frank’s house on Sunday and into either an apartment or a dormitory in preparation for my course starting on Monday. Obviously, that will cost money, and I don’t have a plan for that one yet.

It sucks not having money. And I complain a lot. But I have to say, when you reach out for help, you find first of all that most people are good. And second of all, you build a closer relationship with people who help you than you do with people you pay money to.

I am happy and optimistic. I can’t wait for the course to start. It will be intensive, 40 hours per week for a month, followed by a month of volunteering at the emergency ward of the hospital. And that is just level one. Then all of the other training starts.

If anyone is interested in helping to sponsor this program, please let me know.

 

 

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