My Journey to Saudi Arabia: Farah Musroor.
Born in the vibrant, noisy and congested city of Karachi, the capital of Pakistan, in the early 80's, Farah has found her way out and into Saudi Arabia. How? and Why? Is a question I end up asking her and many others as we all socialize and help each other live in this country known to the world as strict and with limited freedom of expression/speech not to mention the limited rights of women.
Farah😊
Farah is the last born in a family of 7 siblings, her mother is a single mum after their dad passed on in early 2000. She comes from a middle-class family. Their eldest sister took up the responsibility of educating her siblings and was a great role model to them. It is a close knit family and everyone bears responsibility of the other, be it financially, emotionally or physical.It is a way of life in many Asian/ African households. Having lots of people around her, she had a good childhood, she was happy, supported and loved. In her younger years, all she dreamt of was to be able to move to America, and ofcourse most of us are very brainwashed by the American dream, on tv it looked like it was just handed to you! Like you land there and suddenly live in this big house, a Bmw parked in the driveway. Haha..dreamon... Today Farah's dreams are not in America!
She studied hard in school, she explains it with so much nostalgia! In her eyes I could see a girl who did whatever it took to excel, a girl who was driven by her big dream to one day work and live in America and give her family a good life.. a Dream life! She graduated with a Diploma in Nursing and went on to pursue her Bachelors because she was fully aware that a diploma would not get her out of the madness in Karachi.
Why did she leave Pakistan? The same reasons most of us leave, the rate of employment is very low, and if you got lucky enough to find a job, the pay does not measure up. 'Most people are overworked and underpayed', she explains, 'people leave their homes at dawn and come back at dusk, for a salary that wouldnt pay all your bills. The opportunity to achieve your career goals is therefore minimized. Another reason is religiuos criticism and a culture that limits freedom of expression, though, i have to add that things are changing there'.
Why Saudi? 'I was having a chat with one of my friends and she told me of an agency that was recruiting to Saudi, i thought to myself that this might be the only channel out there, you see, we are very limited!, to come from Pakistan, its hard to get a job in America or even the UK, you need lots of papers and probably more tests to even be considered. That was next to impossible for me, so i took this way, hoping that working with international community and in a hospital with international standards, i will somehow channel onto Canada, or UK. America is no longer in my big goals! Canada is! but whichever channel i have to go through, so be it, you might hear me screaming up your name in the streets of Helsinki in a few years'.👍🏽😂
'It was a liberating feeling when the plane took off, it was looking forward to a new life, my motivation was renewed and my dreams even got bigger! It was the first step to another way! to leave all my family behind and venture into this magnificent journey in life ALONE!'.
MOst of us who have taken this journey know how it feels like. I completely understood that feeling, i had the exact same feeling a decade ago when i did the same.
Hugs my new friend and All the best on your journey and Dreams!
Why did she leave Pakistan? The same reasons most of us leave, the rate of employment is very low, and if you got lucky enough to find a job, the pay does not measure up. 'Most people are overworked and underpayed', she explains, 'people leave their homes at dawn and come back at dusk, for a salary that wouldnt pay all your bills. The opportunity to achieve your career goals is therefore minimized. Another reason is religiuos criticism and a culture that limits freedom of expression, though, i have to add that things are changing there'.
Why Saudi? 'I was having a chat with one of my friends and she told me of an agency that was recruiting to Saudi, i thought to myself that this might be the only channel out there, you see, we are very limited!, to come from Pakistan, its hard to get a job in America or even the UK, you need lots of papers and probably more tests to even be considered. That was next to impossible for me, so i took this way, hoping that working with international community and in a hospital with international standards, i will somehow channel onto Canada, or UK. America is no longer in my big goals! Canada is! but whichever channel i have to go through, so be it, you might hear me screaming up your name in the streets of Helsinki in a few years'.👍🏽😂
'It was a liberating feeling when the plane took off, it was looking forward to a new life, my motivation was renewed and my dreams even got bigger! It was the first step to another way! to leave all my family behind and venture into this magnificent journey in life ALONE!'.
MOst of us who have taken this journey know how it feels like. I completely understood that feeling, i had the exact same feeling a decade ago when i did the same.
Hugs my new friend and All the best on your journey and Dreams!
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