"She was making the children's sandwiches just like every
morning: two pieces of bread and a slice of cheese heated in
the toaster oven. When they were ready she made a sandwich
for herself: two slices of bread, a slice of cheese and
salami. She's allowed. Then she headed toward the toaster
oven with it. I shouted and she stopped in her tracks,
alarmed. `What's the matter?' "
She is a Filipino childcare worker in a house full of kids.
Normally Filipino workers come to provide nursing care for
the elderly. They are often seen walking with their elderly
patients, helping them along in wheelchairs, sitting at their
side when they are hospitalized.
They can also be seen in certain places where they congregate
in Jerusalem and in the area of the Central Bus Station in
Tel Aviv. In Bnei Brak they walk around in groups on
Sundays.
The Levanon family decided to hire a Filipino caregiver when
Saba became too sick to tend to himself. "It came to the
point where we could no longer leave my father- in-law
alone," recounts Mrs. Levanon. "After we went through a long
period of strain we realized there was no choice but to seek
the help of a foreign worker. We contacted an agency.
"I recommend that anyone who plans to hire a foreign worker
and plans to go to an agent do some homework first to study
the laws associated with importing and employing foreign
workers. Do not rely on the agent alone," says Mrs. Levanon,
who referred to the agent she worked with as a "shyster."
The Nursing Care Funding Law provides the elderly in need
with 16 hours per day of care paid for by the Bituach Leumi.
A funding request is submitted to Bituach Leumi, which then
sends a social worker to evaluate the elderly patient's
ability to function.
Problems can arise when a family member's condition declines
suddenly, allowing little time for bureaucratic arrangements.
In such situations people often turn to an agency for help.
The agency can provide an excellent worker overnight, with
just one little problem: he or she may not have a valid work
visa.
"Don't worry," the agent assures you. "This is a minor
matter. We'll make the necessary arrangements right away."
But "right away" can take quite a long time. Securing a visa
can be a long process and beside the legal violation involved
in employing an unauthorized foreign worker, it could
jeopardize eligibility for the nursing care allowance
(kitzvat si'ud). Be sure your foreign worker already
has a visa that lists the name of the patient.
"We got our worker, Carlo, without a visa," explains Mrs.
Levanon. "For a long time the agency promised the matter
would be taken care of `soon.' Now Saba is in the hospital.
Carlo helps a lot with his care because he cannot be left
alone for a moment. If the visa arrangements had not been
made by now, we would not have received eligibility to employ
a foreign worker, because our Saba is now hospitalized."
Not every patient requires the same level of care. In the
case of the Levanon Family the grandfather suffers from
severe dementia, requiring constant attention. In the case of
the T. family however, the grandfather is independent enough
to help himself for the most part. To find live-in help the
family went to an agency listed in the yellow pages. There
they were asked whether they preferred a newly-arrived worker
or a seasoned veteran.
"To bring a new worker for the first time is cheaper," says
Mrs. T. "You have to pay for the air fare, but the monthly
payment starts at $500." The longer the worker has been in
Israel the higher the wages, which can go as high as
$1,000.
"We got our Nicholas after he had been in the country for two
years. The $700 we agreed to pay does not include the
additional spending allowance the worker is entitled to. We
started at NIS 60 per week and today we pay him NIS 100 per
week. This increases his salary by $100 per month."
Not all foreign nursing care workers hail from the
Philippines. Recently Romanians and Hungarians have been
making headway into the field, but they are still in the
minority. The Eastern Europeans are reputed to be less gentle
and sensitive than Filipinos, and therefore they are less in
demand. Sometimes a Romanian or Hungarian or even a Moroccan
is specifically requested for an elderly patient who
immigrated from these countries, based on a belief they will
form better ties if they speak the same language. However,
most Filipinos speak English quite well. For other foreign
workers, the most common second language they have is
English, and many are eager for a chance to improve their
English.
"Our extended family took a girl named Clarissa to stay with
their elderly and ailing grandmother," recounts Rav Z. The
family did -- and does -- a lot for the grandmother, but the
granddaughters who lived in her house married and the
personnel supply diminished; meanwhile the grandmother's
condition became more of a burden. Eventually it was decided
there was no alternative other than to seek help. Today help
means a Filipino.
"When we got Clarissa after all of the exhausting procedures,
we could breathe free. She appeared to be energetic and even
domineering. `She'll get along with Savta,' we promised one
another, not saying what we were all thinking, that to get
along with Savta, who is a very forceful woman, is not a
simple matter.
"To a certain degree we were right. Clarissa met our
expectations, or so we thought. Savta, our mother,
occasionally complained that Clarissa beat her, but to our
great chagrin we did not believe her. And then one day the
phone rang. `You employ a Filipino for your sick mother,'
said a voice on the phone. `Do you know that your grandmother
is left alone many nights?'"
The next night Rav Z. called in the evening as usual, and
found Clarissa there. But when they arrived at the apartment
an hour later they found Savta asleep, all alone in the
apartment. "We stayed until morning, of course, and then
Clarissa made her way back with gay steps, opened the door
and found herself looking us in the face. At first she didn't
understand what was going on, but we explained things to her.
She cried bitter tears. `I love her so much,' she said. `I
made a mistake one time. Please forgive me.'
"Clarissa was asked to leave. In her stead came Aida. It's
not easy for us to admit it, but there's a big difference.
Today Savta is well taken care of and well- groomed. The
house is sparkling clean and decorated. She hasn't said a
word about getting hit. She looks different. A lot more at
ease."
To find the right match the agency has to take a number of
factors into account. Sometimes a highly dependent patient
needs total care. A worker who is not powerfully built will
be unable to lift him and seat him in a chair and bathe
him.
There also has to be a "click" between the elderly patient
and the nursing-care worker. "One of the reasons why we
didn't fire the worker, who didn't have a visa," says Mrs.
Levanon, "was that Saba bonded with him. He didn't call him
by name, but he would say, `The goy will take care of
it,' and `To tell the truth, I like the goy.' For us
that was enough."
Sometimes the worker and patient do not get along as well.
"My mother a'h suffered a stroke," A. recounts. "We
tried one caregiver. We tried another. We tried a third. She
did not agree to be helped by any of them. My mother had lost
her speech so we were unable to understand what the reason
was. Maybe she objected to help from any person who was not
one of her relatives."
Eventually A.'s mother was placed in an institution. Without
help the family was unable to take proper care of her.
The workers also have demands of their own and have certain
rights backed by law. Every Sunday they are entitled to a day
off. Filipinos are typically practicing Christians and
sometimes go to their churches. They dress however they
choose and meet with their friends. Workers often rent large
apartments, which some use as living quarters and others use
only on their day off. Each of them pays about $50 per month
for a little patch to call their own while staying here as
aliens.
The law requires those who receive live-in care to provide
the worker with a space of his or her own. Not necessarily a
separate room, but a place to put clothes and toiletries. The
worker also needs access to the phone. There is definitely a
price to pay in exchange for nursing care, says Mrs. Levanon.
"The moment the worker steps into your home your privacy
goes. He roams around the house. He talks on the phone. He
comes and goes. You no longer feel entirely at home in your
own home."
"Most families maintain a certain distance," explains Ofrah
of the Misgav Lekashish Association in Jerusalem. "There is
not much friction between the worker and the family." But
sometimes problems can arise, often due to excessive phone
use or inadequate standards of dress.
"Tsnius? There is a problem," admits Mrs. T.
"Nicholas, our worker, used to dress in a very inappropriate
manner. We insisted he wear long pants and a shirt when he
went out with Saba. If we hadn't commented to him we would
have encountered a great deal of unpleasantness."
