A life less ordinary: From Cynthia to Zamira; a Filipina nurse with her heart in Swabi

SWABI:

Serving humanity in an alien part of the world is never easy. For those who choose this path—like Dr Ruth Pfau who decided to devote her life to fighting leprosy in Pakistan—the bad is expected with the good. For others, the ‘outsider’ experience can be unpleasant.

Zamira Bibi is one such silent crusader who nonetheless never looked back. Over the years, her life has become the embodiment of a hard and inspiring struggle.

When she visited Swabi in 1992, Zamira Bibi did not think the region would one day become the place she called home. However, after she landed a job as a nurse at District Headquarters Hospital Swabi in 1996, Zamira Bibi became resigned to the dictates of fate and dedicated her life to looking after patients.

The wonder years

Zamira Bibi’s journey not only began in another country, but with another name – Cynthia Jalil. Born in July 1963 in Tictabon Island in the Philippines to parents from different cultures, Cynthia grew up with a fluid notion of identity. “My father was a Muslim cleric in the island,” she tells The Express Tribune. “However, my mother’s side of the family was Christian.”

She adds, “But for the first 14 years of my life, I lived with my grandparents.” Zamira Bibi explains, “A soothsayer told my mother that if she lived with me, either she or I would die. Since my mother was superstitious, she chose to protect me by keeping me away from her.” Her grandparents took charge of her education but it was her father who persuaded her to switch to health care. Cynthia studied nursing at Manila Western University and subsequently joined Far Eastern University in Manila for further studies.

“After I got my degree, I applied for a job at a hospital in Jeddah and got it,” she explains. “In 1985, I moved to Saudi Arabia.”

The proposal

Her first move unlocked many doors for her. It was at the hospital in Jeddah that Zamira Bibi met the man who would later become her husband.

“Sawabdin was an immigrant who worked as an engineer in Saudi Arabia,” she recalls. “He was admitted at the facility and fell in love with me. I used to work at the reception in those days and he would bring me gifts and flowers.”

At first, she did not respond to his overtures. However, when Sawabdin went to the Philippines twice to ask her parents for her hand in marriage, Zamira Bibi gave her suitor serious consideration and eventually gave in.

“We were married in 1990,” she says. “Although my father approved of my decision, my mother was opposed to the marriage.”

Following her marriage, Cynthia converted to Islam and changed her name to Zamira Bibi. The couple moved to the Philippines.

And the truth comes out

Unfortunately, neither her married life nor the new identity that came with it brought her much luck.

“In 1992, my husband received a letter from his mother,” Zamira Bibi says. “According to the letter, my mother-in-law was critically ill and wanted to meet him. I accompanied him to Pakistan. However, when we arrived in Mian Dheri, Swabi, I learnt he was already married and had four daughters.”

Zamira Bibi was shocked as were her in-laws. “The family was embarrassed by me,” she says. “I was not to mingle with the rest of the family.”

At first, Zamira Bibi resolved to go back to the Philippines. “However, I didn’t know where to go,” she recalls. “I didn’t understand the language and had no idea where the embassy for the Philippines was. I was like a caged bird.” In hindsight, it was the small things that irked her and reminded her of home. “I wasn’t used to eating spicy food, “she says. “Since I was not used to the way of life, I felt I wouldn’t be able to survive.”

Independent women

A job at the district hospital in 1996 helped change things. “Few women worked in Swabi in the 1990s and I was one of them,” she says, not without pride. “I would hire a tonga or ride a bike to go to work.”

Her new job eventually helped Zamira Bibi integrate and shed the layers of  ‘unbelonging’.

“Back then, pregnant women scarcely went to the hospital for their deliveries,” she explains. “Since I was familiar with the risks involved in delivering babies outside of a hospital, I helped them safely deliver babies at their houses. Gradually, I earned the respect of villagers.”

Zamira Bibi also established a mother and child care clinic in her village. “As the years passed, patients from other villages also started visiting the clinic,” she says. “I’ve helped deliver thousands of babies from various villages.” Over time, her husband’s family also started treating her like she was one of their own.

Occupational hazards

According to Zamira Bibi, the time she has spent at DHQ Hospital in Swabi involved a tough struggle.

“The 15 years I worked there as a nurse, the medical superintendent had not appointed a head nurse,” she says. “At first, I didn’t know why any candidate had not been announced yet. It was only later that I realised this was an attempt to stifle the voice of the nursing staff and prevent them from making demands or raising issues.” Zarmina Bibi adds, “There were 32 nurses at the hospital who worked day and night to serve patients. They deserved to have their voices heard.”

Zamira Bibi remembers exactly when she tried to change the status quo. The medical superintendent rejected her leave application, “He tore the letter into pieces and tossed it in the dustbin,” she says. “I realised it was important to assert my rights and approached the education ministry with my complaint.” The relevant authorities asked her to submit an application against the medical superintendent but the matter was swept under the carpet.

“There are some nurses who mistreat their patients,” she explains. “I have seen nurses beating and thrashing women who are in labour. It’s very disturbing.”

A whole new world

In 2007, Zamira Bibi went back to the Philippines along with her two children to visit her mother. But her childhood home did not have the same pull.

Now her responsibilities to her patients in Swabi are a priority. Zamira Bibi weathered the storm but instead of falling apart, she stuck around to pick up the pieces and start anew.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2015.