The "Tiny Nurse" Dies at the Age of 101

(or Florence Nightingale of the Philippines)
by Rhoda R. Redulla, RN

The first time I saw our "tiny nurse" was when I went to see her in their home in Salcedo, Ilocos Sur. She had just woken from her afternoon nap. When we were both settled, she looked at me, then closed her eyes for several seconds before opening them again.

She was ready.

As soon as I have stated the purpose of my visit, she alerted her nephew to bring out her book. She had written her memoirs shortly after retirement in 1985.

And if I may relay to you her story . . .

She was just like any ordinary nurse you know. She was petite. She wore a cap. What made her remarkable and exceptional? She was awarded the highest distinction given to a nurse by the International Committee of the Red Cross. She was also held as a Prisoner of War by the Japanese. On top of all these, as she tiptoed from one work assignment to the next, she had a young daughter to raise. But the most touching part of the story was the fact that she was widowed shortly after she got married with the ex-congressman and ex-governor Lupo Biteng. These made her extraordinary.

Let us take a historic glimpse at the heartwarming story of Rafaela Taqueban Biteng. She was the epitome of compassion, caring, and courage . Dubbed "the tiny nurse" because of her petite built, she is a woman who has weathered the ordeals of World War II. Like St. Rafaela from whom her name was derived, her life was a selfless devotion to humanity.

She was born on October 23, 1902 in Salcedo, Ilocos Sur. The visit of a pastor of the Christian Mission Society of Indianapolis to their home changed her life forever. Rev. Alejandro Gatboton approached her father and offered a scholarship for Rafaela. The pastor was inviting her to enroll in a Nursing school in Vigan. Rafaela was a seventh-grade graduate then. During that time,this was already a great distinction. This was in the year 1920.

For two years, Rafaela stayed at the "Frank Dunn Memorial Hospital" in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. Here, she learned the basic nursing skills. She recalls that their head nurse at that time was very particular on cleanliness and hygiene. She would use a white cloth to check if the dusting job was done properly. Sometimes, the head nurse would even intentionally drop off pieces of paper just to test whether the student nurses would pick them up.

After two years of training in Vigan, she was sent to Manila, along with the other two student nurses. Upon graduation, she took up further enrichment in Public Health Nursing at the University of the Philippines-Manila. Her work as a professional nurse started when the Director of the Nursing Service of the American Red Cross invited her to join the organization. Not long, she found herself in the Puericulture Center in Azcarraga, Manila. Since the focus of the health care programs then was on Mother and Baby care, her task was to handle prenatal cases. She had done what one would regard as simple nursing tasks and routines. Among these was the care for the sick and wounded, handling deliveries, providing health teachings to the community people. Simple and ordinary, but the big difference was that these were done in the most difficult working conditions.

In Rafaela�s case, difficult meant working under pressure and tremendous fear, uncertainty . . . expecting the unexpected. She always had to prepare herself for the worst.

As a Red Cross Public Health Nurse, she was assigned to places where she could neither speak nor understand the dialect. What kept her going was simply her unflinching commitment to perform her sworn duties and responsibilities. She had experienced every possible means of transportation available during her time. When attending to home deliveries and carrying out immunization programs, she traveled on horseback or carabao-drawn sleds over muddy roads. That is, if she was lucky. Sometimes the travel would require riding on a banca (boat), or worse, by foot along steep hills and dangerous terrains.

To work under pressure and very difficult circumstances are things which Mrs. Biteng could very well speak of. During the outbreak of World War II in December 1941, she can proudly claim to have experienced the test of fire in her work as a nurse. She was then working as a Maternity Nurse at the Olongapo Naval Base when the Japanese arrived. Amid air raids and bombings, she had treated the wounded soldiers.

In a speech she delivered during her retirement program at the King�s Garden, she said "My nursing career of forty-seven years was spent mostly with the nursing service of the American Red Cross, which molded me to serve humanity, even when life was at stake." She remembers having experienced a bayonet directly pointed at her by a Japanese soldier. She was then in an evacuation area. Luckily, the soldier respected the Red Cross identification card which she showed. She recalls, "�waves of sick and wounded Japanese soldiers were brought in the hospital from different battle fronts. They brought bundles of bloody belts."

There were evacuation hospitals which were put up. Here, the wounded soldiers were treated temporarily. In all these, Mrs. Biteng worked on a volunteer basis. The Red Cross did not fail to recognize the exceptional courage and caring spirit which she has shown.

More than forty years after the war, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) awarded Mrs. Rafaela Biteng the "Florence Nightingale Award". This is the highest international distinction awarded for great devotion and exceptional services in the field of nursing.

What Mrs. Biteng went through comes close with the description of the experience of the American nurses who were trapped in Bataan during World War II. " Throughout this period, the nurses proved their courage and strength, setting up makeshift hospitals and caring for hundreds of patients each day, while battling starvation and illnesses such as malaria and dysentery."

In October 2002, Rafaela turned 100. The picture of a happy, serene and fulfilled nurse, she said for all the nurses around, "Be happy and proud that you are a nurse . . . because you can help others live."

More than a year after my last visit, Mrs. Biteng passed away. She died on November 18, 2003 at the age of 101.

Looking back, it was during my first visit when Rafaela gave me a copy of her autobiography. There are still many details I wanted to know from her. There are still a lot of questions I would have wanted to ask her. But then again, still, I feel grateful and blessed. For the chance of having seen the oldest living nurse before she passed away is just a "once-in-a-lifetime" encounter.

Mrs. Biteng left all of us with the most meaningful gift � her life story. May her story be stamped in every nurse�s heart. May it be a source of courage and inspiration. So that whenever we feel challenged and disheartened at work, we just have to hark back to the story of the "tiny nurse".