Interview Assignment

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Women and Gender Studies: Interview Assignment
Subject Description
Rowena, a forty-year-old, Asian woman, came in the country to work as a house helper. Her tasks as a house helper varied from time to time. She could be a babysitter, cook, house cleaner, and laundry woman. She would be happy to fulfill the tasks every time she cooked and served food for bosses. Even if she felt tired, she did not complain anything because she said she received high salaries compared to some four-year or five-year degree professionals in her country. According to her, she woke up early and worked hard even without orders and requests. Even if her madam and sir did not ask her to do specific tasks, she still worked so that her bosses would get great home services. Now, she would nearly go home as she has been almost two years in the country. I could see it in her eyes that she would be sad about leaving because in her mind she always thought of working for her family back home.
Challenges Confronting Rowena
Rowena is a typical Asian girl. She is obedient, passionate, and reliable, which made her bosses consider her as a member of the family. Her aspirations in life and dreams to finish her children back home fueled her effort to pursue her desires to work hard and to cross topographical and ethnic boundaries to earn a living. Despite the odds of distances and the emotional trials in the new country, she could not circumvent herself to face new culture. Besides, she did not speak fluent English since she was unable to finish college.

Sometimes, she repeatedly asked the instructions since she hardly understood slang expressions and colloquial terms. Sometimes, she was afraid to inquire those difficult concepts and terms because she did not want her bosses to know that she did not understand them. Aside from language and culture barriers, she also faced with healthcare services. She did not have a full-coverage, health insurance plan since she has not been an American citizen. Her situations posed some concerns whether or not she could have full access to health and medical services. Instead of going to the hospitals, she secretly had to take medicine prescribed by doctors so that she could get better. In other words, she faced some of these problems and learned to adapt to the new social environments so that she could efficiently perform her tasks.
At some points, Rowena’s economic and social conditions allowed her to stay focused on her work and survive in the foreign country. She commonly got sick when she kept on thinking her family back to the Philippines. According to her, there was a time when she cried a lot remembering her children back home. Her emotional burdens contributed to the dilemma she has been dealing with her life. It seemed obvious that she could not hold on to stay for a few months before going home. When she narrated her accounts, she could not control her feelings as she shed tears. Though she visually articulated her ideas and opinions, she became uneasy since she had not felt well. She must be tired; she might be longing for completing her dreams so that she could go home. Indeed, her eyes through her firm stare and a sad face might speak louder than what she wanted to convey. With her age and physical condition, she needed extra healthcare services since she often got illnesses. On the contrary, she refused to get hospitalized and behaved as if she were fine even if she needed medical attention every time she felt pain and stress. Indeed, she has been mature enough that she was quite focused on her dreams without realizing her health conditions.
Rowena’s Health Problems
Rowena’s health conditions became a problem in the United States. She did not have a permanent job, so she did not have the full-coverage insurance. She had to spend her healthcare services and medical treatments if she got sick. Often, she did not complain anything if her illness could not contaminate with other people and members of the family. In the interview, she had to lie that she was fine to save money on hospital expenses. She was thinking how she could send money home if spent for her hospitalization. As such, she had to be fine at all times so that she could bring big amount of money home when she decided to stop working overseas. Of course, Rowena came from the social backgrounds. Rowena’s social class, region, race, and ethnic backgrounds may be different, but she similarly felt the same pain and sorrow. When I asked her how she dealt with the agony and sadness, she said she only cried. “I cried a lot and kept on praying that these miserable conditions would end soon enough.” It would only mean that she, like all the rest of the people, suffered the harsh types of realities where overseas workers did not receive equal treatment and medical attention. Based on Rowena’s interviews, readers could differentiate the contrast terms observed in the societies of the world today. These paradoxes between underprivileged and prosperous, deprived and advantaged, fortunate and unfortunate individuals continued to share and interconnect in an unexpected circumstance. When it came to gender, women usually got caught in some thoughtful and life-threatening social conditions. In other words, Rowena was one among those foreign workers who dedicated their lives to make their loved ones comfortable. She had to sacrifice herself to help her family and other people to live. As a mother and wife, she had to cross boundaries to support their loved ones. Despite the health conditions and the choices of keeping their pains and problems with them, these women like Rowena became heroes on their own.
Strong Desire to Achieve the Dreams
Like many women who survived the challenges, Rowena made and traded her part. Her love for her family remained undaunted. She did not care how long and how agonizing living in distances. As long as he could take the change to bear the pain, she would do it for the sake of the family. Rowena’s story deepened into my senses and brought me another remarkable thought and realization. I felt overwhelmed how Rowena like any woman in the world challenged the roles of men and husbands. Rowena even defied the social and cultural conventions where women stayed at home. She challenged the situations how her husband could not fully afford to provide their basic needs. For Rowena, the cultural traditions were entirely wrong because she could not feed her children if she did not find jobs. During the process of interview, she became attentive to answer those questions. I knew that Rowena was a smart, strong, and responsible and that any society in the world should need more Rowena to live and change the culture of the world. In the face of equality around the world, Rowena took the first step to build a family, form a solid foundation, and construct free and liberated women.
Final Words
Indeed, Rowena thrived to prosper in her determination and imagining. Her characters kept her stronger than any woman did. Despite her health conditions, she defied all the odds to flourish in all her endeavors. However, Rowena should also take good care of herself. She needed to learn to value herself by taking care of her health. She needed to think that she could not help her children and family she would get sick. Moreover, this informal interview would give readers social awareness how women needed to step into the shadows and how they challenged the society to shape the cultural norms and standards.
Interview Questions:
Tell me something about yourself.
What are your ambitions and aspirations in life why you go abroad?
What are your expectations in the country? Culture? People? And society?
Can you tell me something about your healthcare experiences and your social relationships in the country? In your own country?
How much do you value your family and life? How far would you sacrifice for your family? Distance? Risks?
What are your strategies to cope with nostalgia or the sense of longing?