Nursing & a new life

Charisma's migration story

My name is Charisma Antalan, and I'm from Philippines. Actually, it's my auntie who did everything for me. She looked for a job for me here as a nurse, and it just so happened that Bupa, where I work now, is the one who offered me the job. I was in the Philippines and I applied for a work visa then.

The employer assisted me with that as well. Whatever Immigration required they provided it for us. I first came here as a caregiver. I was working on my registration here as a nurse, so I took the English exam. I didn't get it the first time; didn't the second time, but in the end, I got it.

And then, the facility offered me to become a registered nurse, as soon as I got my registration here, and yeah, they gave me a position, which is really good.

When I first arrived here in New Zealand it was raining, the thunder! It was the start of the winter. June, so it's already wintertime here. And, coming form a tropical country, it was really new.

I said to my auntie during that time, oh this is so scary. Is this the kind of weather here all year round? And she said no, it just so happened I came at that time, and the weather was like that.

So, when I first arrived here, the people were lovely here. Their offering support and they're very friendly, I would say. The people from work and their familly as well. And their friends. We go out once in a while.

I keep in touch with my family and friends through Internet, Skype, phone calls, texts, all those things. Being away from family and friends is quite hard, I still want to be with my parents. I miss them of course.

Coming from the Philippines, I would say it is safe here in New Zealand. It feels like, you don't have to worry about leaving your doors open. You can park your car outside. If you do that in the Philippines, the next morning, you'll be looking for your car. It won't be there anymore.

We're not thinking of going anywhere else. We like it here. We're lucky here. We're safe here. We like the place. We like the people.

We feel at home here in New Zealand.