No sacrifice for my child

A career woman finds contentment after quitting her job for her daughter's sake.

COMMENT

by Rafidah Ahmad

It has been six years since I resigned from my job as an engineer. The initial reason was that my husband got an offer to further his studies aboard. I was at the peak of my career. I always had this idea about financial freedom and how I could never survive socially by being a housewife. But what needed to be done was done. I knew that going to an industrialised country would be a great opportunity for my then two-year-old daughter, Izdihar Janna, to get better education and treatment for her cerebral palsy. So I resigned.

Then, the crazy chase started. We ran around like headless chickens to prepare the necessary documents in order to apply for visas. The requirements were stringent and the documents needed were plenty. Only by August 2008, two months after my resignation, did we manage to send the visa applications.

My husband, my then six-year-old son, and I did not have any problem getting the visa approval but Jannas application did not go well. They needed extra documents to support her application because of her disability and health concerns. We sent support letters from her doctors saying she would not be needing any heart operation anytime in the following three years and that I am capable of performing her therapies at home. We also sent copies of our bank statements and a financial guarantee letter from my husbands company.

The next few months were full of question marks, but finally, we received the reply. Jannas visa application was rejected because they believed she would impose a significant burden to their systems. The letter firmly stated that we had no right to appeal.

My husband decided that he was not going to leave anyone behind and said goodbye to his dream of obtaining a doctorate from that country.

We had a long discussion on our immediate and future plans, including whether I should work again. I did not think it would be fair to everyone if I worked outside the home again. I would not be able to focus on Jannas intervention as much as I wanted to. I would need to be taking time off from work to attend to her various appointments.

After some serious consideration and discussions with my husband, we found ourselves believing that we could afford to live on a single income as long as we managed our finances carefully. We had always lived a simple life; so there was no drastic need to change our lifestyle.

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No sacrifice for my child