A Life-Changing Experience

My friend,Albert, at THE QABRAOUN LAKE before the war

by: Albert D. Arisgado

It was the 11th day of December 2010 when I left my home country to chase after a dream…a dream which my family and friends have altogether worked hard for. An hour before boarding inside the plane heading to Libya, I sent my loved ones text messages, promising them of a good story as I journey away from home. I think I never failed them with that. As I had my first foot on the Libyan ground, that was when my life turned to another chapter with new characters to interact with and new settings to spice up my experience. I was very aware of why I came to this place: to teach minds, to touch hearts, and to transform lives as an English teacher. I was very sure of that. Unknowingly, God has prepared a new syllabus for me to attend to.

Before the opening of a new semester, my excitement brought me sleepless nights. I was like a bee hovering around the visual aids that I needed with the courses I was assigned to teach for the whole semester. I was looking forward to February 20 to come and seize the adrenaline of being inside the classroom for the first day of school. Due to much excitement, the warning about the crisis in Benghazi which my mentor in the Philippines told me about did not come across my mind. I was so preoccupied with having to prove my worth for coming here as a teacher. At seven o’clock in the evening of February 19, everything that I needed for school was all-packed: my lessons, my suit, myself. All the while I thought I was ready for my mission here in Libya. I never knew that on that very night, there would be a turnabout in my life. In my thousand thoughts, I never dreamed of becoming a cast of a fully-packed action film for I hated war movies. I battered the gate of heaven with my complaints but no matter how hard I did it, I just couldn’t move it. I cried so hard for my shattered dream because of this crisis. I pitied my family with whom I left my financial obligations. I worried a lot about so many things which only centered on “ME”. I used to be so engrossed with amassing wealth. I felt so helpless for I was pressed in the revolution in Misurata. I was about to reach the end of my rope but I continued holding on tightly. So I prayed hard and asked for a divine guidance. The answer was very clear: God wanted to use me and the life that He has given me in tending to our suffering brothers here. I decided to stay here because I want my life to be meaningful. I want to really exist as what God has wanted me to. My fervent prayers allowed me to see what’s really important: family, friends, freedom. He let me realize the importance of my existence: to serve HIM on the faces of the suffering and of those in need.

I responded to God’s calling that is to extend other people’s lives by offering myself in a voluntary service at Al Hekma Hospital. I am not a nurse. My vocation is teaching. But I know my hands are made for a purpose. Despite my incapacity for not getting a formal training as a nurse, it’s truly a joy to see relief on the faces of my patients after I cleaned them and changed their diapers after defecation, gave them compress when their temperature’s high, massaged them to alleviate pain, and cared for them after coming from the operating theatre. I even cleaned corpses of the revolutionists. Before, I couldn’t stand seeing blood dripping from a man’s body. I couldn’t stand watching an open wound. I couldn’t take smelling long-due feces. I couldn’t touch dead bodies. Now, at least, I have mustered my courage to withstand these hospital sights, far worse than what I had seen in my home country. While volunteering at the hospital, it pierces my heart to see patients in so much pain because of gunshots or post-explosions. My fear of our situation here was even blinded by the pity I feel seeing the victims helpless as they snake and moan in intense pain. My heart bleeds watching children struggle between life and death. What I have been doing at the hospital, I know, is just a minor role. But I believe God wants me to create an impact on the lives of people I am serving. These made me happy and at peace despite the danger of the revolution. I am not obliged to be at the hospital. I can just stay at my flat and count the bomb explosions while I wait for the revolution to end. I can even choose to go home as ships regularly come to Misurata to help evacuate patients and foreigners to safer harbor. But  But deep in my heart, I feel sorrow for those who suffer because of this crisis. It’s hard to leave a land with people who don’t know what the word “stranger” means. For Libyans, every person they meet is a friend and brother. They are so kind that even in times of crisis they would knock at your door and offer assistance. Even if they have their own families’ miseries, they would make an effort to extend any form of help. It’s heart-breaking to see good-hearted people left with no choice but to take up guns to protect their families and friends. They are left with no option but to fight back against the oppressors. They should kill or they and their families and friends would be killed. Freedom is what they are fighting for and they are willing to pay for the price of it even if freedom itself costs too much.

Out of this experience, I learned that no matter how well we landscape our path in our journey through life, it’s always God’s will that shall be done. Things in life aren’t random and they don’t happen by accident. There is a wonderful plan at work that runs more deeply than I ever know. God’s force flows through life, affecting my personal destiny and the destiny of the people whose lives I’ve touched. I also realized that life is indeed born of struggle. Like a baby, to enter this world, he or she must leave the comfort and security of the womb and make a difficult and perilous passage through the narrow canal. Before an eagle can soar to the heavens, it must push and peck its way out of the egg. Before a butterfly can delight us with its colors and grace, it must escape from its cocoon. The same is true with the Libyans. Before they can acquire their long-desired freedom, they must sacrifice for the cost of it. Things don’t just happen to children of God; they are part of a wonderful plan. The troubles, reverses, and sorrows are the strokes of the Great Sculptor’s hand. If we suffer, we shall also reign.
Every day contributes to the accounts of my life’s story. I am uncertain about how my story would end. One thing I am very sure of is that on the pages of the book of my life in Libya is written my great experience… an experience that has truly changed my life.