The best way I can explain the importance to you, is with this question:  Can you imagine wanting to share a story, a thought or a belief with forty people and preparing what you had to say, choosing the right words and nervously approaching them and then saying what you had to say, you say it just as you planned and you wait for the response and the person you are talking to listens to you, looks at you and just walks away.  Without a smile, a frown - no reaction.  They just walk away.  And out of the forty people you say this to, only one replies to you. 

Now isn’t this true? The lifeline of bloggers are the readers who respond. Sure we have pageviews and visits to tell us how many read our blog. But, how many really engage us? It’s all about comments. There is just no other way (other than email) to let us know that you’re there, and you like what you read. Or don’t which is totally OK too.

This may be a children’s health blog, where we talk health and wellness topics most of the time. And probably comments don’t seem to be appropriate if I just tell you what’s on the allergy alert, but it’s still nice to know that my writing was relevant to you. Or that I should write more of other stuff.

So, for everyone who leaves a comment. You have my thanks and appreciation!

And as part of the crowd who usually don’t leave comments myself, I apologize. I’ll be a better blogger-reader after this.

(Now I wish I said the above quote, but I really didn’t. I picked that excerpt up from Beth from I Should be Folding Laundry, when I read One La Costa Mom, who left her URL at my contest post. I *heart* follow up!)

The case of the Sentosa nurses has been in the news for a while now. The case revolves around 26 nurses and 1 physical therapist recruited from the Philippines through the Sentosa Recruitment Agency.

The “Sentosa 27″, as they came to be called, were brought to the U.S. in 2004 and 2005 for employment in various medical facilities. They eventually resigned from their posts en masse, alleging serious complaints and labor law violations against their employer. The case eventually involved the POEA, the U.S. Department of Justice and other offices. Each side has alleged that violations were made by other party.

To catch up on the story, the following articles would be a great start:

* Broken dreams and promises, power politics, grief are all in this telenovela (via Manila Times)

* Court upholds charges against Filipino nurses (via Newsday)

* The facts behind the Sentosa 27 (via PNA-NY)

* State clears Filipino nurses of wrongdoing (via Newsday)

* No problems with most of Sentosa nurses (via Manila Times)

The latest in the line of articles is this press release: Sentosa Finally Sees Truth About Nurses Slowly Come to Light (via PRWeb). According to this article, the charges against the Sentosa Recruitment Agency brought before the Philippine Department of Justice, the National Labor Relations Commission in Manila, the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency, and the United States Department of Justice were all dismissed. In other words, the Sentosa nurses did not prove that they were unfairly treated by their employers.

“This string of rulings proves that our client was not engaged in any illegal practices,” said Ibaro Relaminda Jr., Sentosa’s attorney based in the Philippines. “It also proves that the nurses were lying in their statements about maltreatment.”

With the unfurling of truth in case after case, support for the nurses and their attorney, Felix Vinluan, both in the U.S. and in the Philippines, is now beginning to buckle under the weight of the facts.

The case of the Sentosa 27 already has serious repercussions on the image of Filipino nurses abroad.

As recently as February 28th the Philippine Nurses Association-United States (PNA-US) voiced its concern about the deteriorating sense of responsibility cropping up among some Filipino nurses as a result of the growing number of opportunities to work abroad.

It is an unfortunate and undeserved blight on the reputation of Filipino nurses in general. The actions of a few should not burden the thousands of Filipino nurses who do their work well, and are held in high esteem both by their colleagues and their employers.

Read more at: PRweb.com.

What could be more horrifying than having a missing child at a huge airport?

How about being responsible for leaving your own child behind!

*GASP!*

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 13 (UPI) — A Filipino family immigrating to Canada was so excited at a flight stopover in Vancouver, they left behind an 18-month-old toddler.
The group was bound for Winnipeg, Manitoba, and the boy’s parents and grandparents were seated separately on the aircraft, Air Canada spokeswoman Angela Mah told the Vancouver Sun. Each pair thought the other had the toddler Monday, she said.

“We were called by (security) who told us one of the security people had a toddler in tow,” Mah said. “He doesn’t speak English so we found a Tagalog-speaking agent who has been looking after him.”

Because the child would have been seated on an adult’s lap, he had no boarding pass, and there was initial concern among airline staff because no one had reported a missing child.

After scanning passenger lists, airline staff eventually identified the flight the family was on, and Mah said the parents were put into telephone contact with the child.

Once the flight landed in Winnipeg, Air Canada put the boy’s father on a flight back to Vancouver to retrieve his son, Mah said.

What a way to start a new life, huh.

image: sxc

It’s straight out of ‘Home Alone’ the movie.

The Parreno family (grandparents, father, mother, and 18-month old son) had just arrived as Canadian immigrants in Vancouver’s airport. After the long flight from the Philippines, they had to unpack and repack their luggage, presumably for customs inspections. They only had 10 minutes before they had to be on their connecting flight to Winnipeg via Air Canada. Having to deal with the stress of a permanent move to a foreign country, an exhausting flight, customs and immigration, and a delayed flight, the family was as harried as can be imagined.

In their hurry, the four adults inadvertently split into two groups. The mom and the grandparents were at the gate first, and thought that the little boy was with his father, who brought up the rear. The dad thought his son was with them. They probably checked in immediately, since they were late, and didn’t wait for the group to be completed.

As luck would have it, they got separate seats, and didn’t realize they were missing one. And the kid didn’t have a boarding pass of his own, because he was a “lap passenger”. So he wasn’t even on the airline’s computer system.

The little boy was eventually found wandering by himself. He didn’t speak English so the airport staff got a Tagalog-speaking agent to watch over him. His family was eventually traced, and they found out from the flight crew.

Can you imagine how the question would have gone? Something like this, perhaps:

“Ma’am, do you know where your son is?”

“He’s with his father, isn’t he? Or is he?!?!”

“He’s still back at the airport where you left him, ma’am.”

The good news is that this story had a happy ending. Air Canada flew Jun Parreno, the father, from Winnipeg to Vancouver and back, to be reunited with his son. I’m sure he gave the little boy a giant hug when he saw him again.

It’s a horrible situation to be in, and I’m glad it ended the way it did. But I’m also sure that this story will be told for years to come in the Parreno family. Welcome to North America, guys!

via MSNBC; image posted with permission from Newscom

May 2, 2006 was the first day I wrote for Filipina Soul, and my first foray into blogging. I can’t believe it’s already (only?) been two years! Filipina Soul wouldn’t have been a success, and a fun place to blog if it weren’t for our readers - YOU. Thank you for reading, following, and interacting with us.

But the thing with me is… I totally forgot about this milestone! If I hadn’t seen Maricar’s post at Keeping the Castle, this whole month would have passed. Is my memory crashing?! YIKKS!

So, in celebration of my 2nd blogging anniversary, and in honor of “memory” … I’m giving away a Maxtor One Touch 4 Mini (120GB)!

From music to family photos, videos and work files, everyone has a lot of meaningful digital content they need to protect and the Seagate Maxtor One Touch 4 Mini will be perfect for you.

• Full-featured, portable backup and storage solution for complete recovery of your PC hard drive’s contents in case of a system crash or virus;
• Easily moving data between home and office and automatically syncing all your files with multiple computers and having different sync paths to keep the files organized according to system
• Perfect for: Mobile warriors, students and creative professionals who take their work with them

How to join?

1. Click on our collection of My Faves posts. Which is your favorite? Tell me in the comments, and that will be your entry.
2. Additional entry will be given to those who link this contest post on their site!
3. Eligibility - one entry per person per email daily (so you get more entries if you come back tomorrow, but rules #1 (faves posts) and #2 above apply for each entry.
4. Its open to residents of the US only. Now, if you have a blog, do post your URL as well, as I love to visit my readers sites and catch a conversation.

The contest ends 12:00 midnight EST May 30, 2008. One (1) winner will be randomly chosen. I will post the winners before 12mn of May 31.