They come from towns, villages and outports along the south-west coast of Newfoundland, from places like Port aux Basques, Burnt Island, Isle aux Morts, the Codroy Valley, Le Poile and Rose Blanche.
They are a group of women who, for almost two decades, have left their families and homes in Newfoundland to work in Nova Scotia. They are live-in caregivers to those who cannot take care of themselves anymore – the elderly, the sick and the dying.
They are known as ‘the Newfoundland Ladies’ – a mostly underground network of women who, when the fishery industry that their families depended on for generations folded, began to export their most unique resource – themselves. It is estimated that there may be as many as three hundred women making the seven-hour ferry ride from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia, but nobody knows for sure.
Once the ferry docks at North Sydney on Cape Breton Island, their journey may not end there. Some must then board cramped shuttle buses and continue, another six hours or more, to reach Halifax and towns beyond.
Eileen Leaman is one of the Newfoundland ladies. In Halifax, she cares for 92-year-old Ruth Gibson. Eileen lives in Ruth’s home for two-week long stretches, doing everything for Ruth who is in the early stages of Alzheimers. The hours are long, the pay just enough to take care of the bills back home. And yet these women have a reputation for being as compassionate as they are capable.
Debbie Hibbs, from Newfoundland’s Codroy Valley, has been part of Pat Evans’ life for six years. A car accident left Pat totally paralyzed and she depends on her live-in caregiver, Debbie, for everything. After six years, Debbie is much more than hired help to Pat; she is a friend. “It is a very intimate relationship”, Pat tells the fifth estate’s Hana Gartner. “Everything that you would do for yourself you have to do for me, from scratching your head to wiping your tears away, to blowing your nose. To shower me, to feed me—everything.”
The care and compassion that women like Eileen and Debbie bring to Ruth and Pat comes at a painful cost for the ladies of Newfoundland. They know that in order to bring money home they must be away from their homes, their families, all they love, for long periods of time. It is a conundrum that has haunted towns and villages like Isle aux Morts and Rose Blanche for decades—to keep the place you love going, but only being able to do that by being away from it.
