Thiruvananthapuram: On Saturday, smiles broke out all around the Nedumbassery airport in Kerala as the 46 nurses who were held captive by rebels in Iraq made a safe landing after being evacuated from Tikrit.
Tears of joy were shed by the nurses and their family members as the much-awaited reunion was made possible by the concerted efforts of the federal and state governments.
But as the wave of emotions surrounding the escape from the conflict-ravaged Iraq subsides, another round of agony and fear await the nurses: the mountain of debt that is to be serviced, which was accumulated through their nursing education fees and travel costs.
The tale of Smithamol Surendran, one of the 46 nurses who returned home, is reflective of the situation of many of the others. Smithamol’s family lives in Mannakkanadu near Marangattupally in a leaky hut that uses plastic sheets thrown over the roof to stop rain water from seeping in.
A proper house was one of her dreams when she went to take up a job at the Tikrit Teaching Hospital four months ago. The conflict in Tikrit since her reaching there meant Smithamol did not get paid, adding to the family’s already bad financial situation. Smithamol’s elder sister Valsa is a nurse in a Delhi hospital. The family has to service a student loan of over Rs100,000 (Dh6,143) and twice that amount which was borrowed for Smithamol to get the job in Tikrit and reach there.
Another nurse, Sunitha Gopi who has a similar financial background, has decided to return to a foreign job to pay back her student loan. She, too, had borrowed money to go to Iraq, and like Smithamol, wasn’t paid for her services in Tikrit.
Vincy Sebastian, a nurse from Athirampuzha in Kottayam district, reached Iraq a year ago and was lucky enough to have worked and earned enough to pay back the loan she had taken from a Kerala-based bank. Having done that, she pursued the family’s dream of constructing a house. Vincy told her parents to go ahead with the construction, promising that she would be able to send some money each month. But those dreams have been shattered with the civil disturbances in Iraq that took her job.
To the nurses’ consolation, there have been many job offers for them since they landed back home. Dr B.R. Shetty of the NMC Group, Atlas Group chairman M.M. Ramachandran and Shebir Nellikode, managing director of the Abu Dhabi-based Universal Hospital are among those who have offered helping hands to the nurses.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was at the airport to receive the nurses when they returned. Also at the airport were ministers P.J. Joseph, K. Babu. V.S. Sivakumar and several political leaders.
