Picture this common Tel Aviv scene: A group of migrant caregivers and their elderly employers sit on park benches under the shade of the palm trees. The caregivers chat to each other in their native language while the old folks nod off in their wheelchairs. When you walk past this scene, do you stop to wonder who these caregivers are? TLV1’s Laragh Widdess set out to discover just that – to bring the tableau to life.

With old people’s homes not popular in Israel, there’s great demand for live-in caregivers. Of the 60,000 migrant caregivers here in Israel, about half are from the Philippines. The others are mainly from Nepal, India and Sri Lanka. They have their own communities, which act as substitute families for the vast majority who’ve left their families behind in their home country. Laragh visits the places where they converge – Tel Aviv’s Central Bus Station, the Catholic church nearby, Park Hayarkon and more – in order to get to know the kind of life they lead here in Israel.

She meets caregivers who’ve been mistreated by their employers, others who are treated as part of the family, some who sent their young children to live on the other side of the world, and many who work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. How do they cope? What motivates them? What do they think of Israel? Listen to hear their stories.

Music:
Sound of Picture – Park Bench
Kevin MacLeod (Incompetech) – Thief In The Night
Sound of Picture – Dry Air
Channel 2 (Reshet) – Clip from X-Factor 2014
Sound of Picture – La Di Day
Sound of Picture – Frosted Glass

Written and produced by Laragh Widdess
Special thanks to Cheryl Sevegan, Winston Santos, Rev. Fr. Michael J. Grospe, and all the caregivers who appear in this documentary (Jeff, Noy, Ednoosh, Jacintha and Eric).