It took decades before she found her calling. This commerce graduate from Cebu had gone from serving with the Singing Cooks and Waiters in Manila to performing with a band in Dubai. Now she is a travel nurse in the UK, vlogging (video-blogging) about her diabetes advocacy on the side. Dithabeth “Didi” North is making up for lost time.
Growing up in Cebu City, Didi said she had always thought of herself as falling short of what she thought was the ideal. “I can sing, but I’m not that great. I can dance, but I’m not as perfect. I can act, but only in a comedy. I am short too!”
She remembers, as a catechist at sixteen, how a religious leader told her, “You have a mission in life. God doesn’t just give you talent just because. He meant for you to use that talent to serve Him.”
After college, Didi flew to Manila to work with the Singing Cooks and Waiters before she was scouted to be the leader of a band bound for Dubai. There she met her British husband, and after more than two years, the couple moved to Cornwall, England, which they’ve called home for the last two decades.
Finding her purpose
As the breadwinner of her family in the Philippines, Didi thought she could help out more by becoming a nurse, so she went back to school to earn a nursing degree and became a staff nurse at a local hospital.
It was only when she was in her forties that Didi began to seriously think about her life’s purpose. She was struggling with her day job as a staff nurse. At the same time, a childhood friend in the Philippines had died due to complications from diabetes.
“I was having a rough time. I wanted to do something that makes me happy.”
As a diabetes advocate at work, she had a wealth of knowledge on diabetes management, which she thought would help the people in her community in Mambaling, considered one of the poorest areas in Cebu.
“Diabetes is a very complex disease, and people do not like to talk about it because they are scared of being judged. Many people with diabetes develop depression and they need support. I wanted people to know they can talk to me—that I am the same girl from the squatters’ area, but I’m a little more knowledgeable now,” Didi says.
Didi knew she needed money to support this advocacy, so she turned to travel nursing.
“It’s a win-win situation. I am happy and not bored. The pay is way much better than what staff nurses get. I get to do what I love—nursing—but I am also able to support my family in the UK and in the Philippines,” Didi says.
Life as a travel nurse
Working as a travel nurse has its perks: There’s the freedom of being able to work independently, which means less office drama.
Travel nursing also expands one’s experience as a nurse. “You will be exposed to a different culture and different ways of delivering nursing . . . As travel nurses, we’re just thrown into the ocean and expected to survive the shift safely! Still, what I love about travel nursing is the exploration. You work with people whom you know nothing about, and by the end of your shift, you know a lot of things, from where the toilet is to the linen cupboard.”
Perhaps, one of the best things about travel nursing is the pay: “I can now afford to pay our mortgage, provide for my family in the Philippines, and give a little to the community back home,” says Didi, who sets aside a portion of her income for her diabetes advocacy in the Philippines.
The hours are long and work is hard in travel nursing. Didi does five nights a week on 11-hour shifts. It can get lonely sometimes and can mean long hours away from her husband and kids. Despite the drawbacks, what keeps Did going is “knowing I have a purpose—not just money—but I’m able to provide, explore, learn, earn, and help others.”
Didi takes a lot of pride in her work as a travel nurse, especially during the pandemic. “As travel nurses, we are deployed to areas that need troubleshooters. It made me feel like I am part of this elite army that is at war and I’m helping save and defend our people,” she says.
From the UK to the world
The idea of vlogging came up as Didi, her husband, and two boys thought of ways to raise money for her diabetes advocacy. “I’m very lazy when it comes to fundraising,” she says, “and I don’t like asking people for money.”
Thus was born Filipino Travel Nurse, a YouTube channel focused on the life of a Pinoy travel nurse in the UK who is dyslexic, a diabetes advocate, and an urban poor activist.
Now running for more than five years, her channel offers light entertainment through travel videos and day-in-the-life features, but also educational videos on how to perform first-aid for patients with stroke or diabetes. During the pandemic, Didi used her platform to bring attention to the plight of her community in Alaska, Mambaling, which had one of the highest COVID-19 cases in Cebu City.
While she’s not able to visit the Philippines because of the pandemic, Didi continues to stay in touch with family and friends back home. Aside from her YouTube videos, she manages a Facebook group for her community, where she shares information about diabetes management and provides psychotherapy for free.
Many of Didi’s post-pandemic plans involve her community in Mambaling. She hopes to visit again and do research for a small-scale garment factory that she wants to set up to provide employment for out-of-school youth. There are plans to visit the Alaska Mambaling Elementary School to educate children on diabetes and teach them how to do CPR. But perhaps the biggest dream of all is to set up a free diabetes clinic. “I want diabetics to find a comfortable space where they can share what they are going through,” Didi says.
Wingspan has partnered with hospitals in the US and UK to hire and deploy hundreds of nurses from the Philippines, many of whom continue to be part of the fight against Covid-19. To understand our services, contact solution@wingspan-consulting.com.