ANG MUNDO SA MATA NG ISANG OFW

Rudyard Kipling once said, “God could not be there everywhere, and therefore He made

mothers.” But what if, some mothers need to leave?

Our parents holds our hands as much as they can; for us not fall, for us not to fail. Their

genuine and unconditional love for us sometimes lead to many sacrifices. Not all the times,

parents can stay by their family’s side. Moments can come when they need to sacrifice and take a

chance far from home, and be an Overseas Filipino Worker.

Upon receiving the task of interviewing a current or former Overseas Filipino Worker

(OFW), one person immediately came into my mind. She is my Auntie. I was quite hesitant to

interview her because I know she is not a tech savvy person, and she is not very capable of being

able online, but I waited because she is someone whom my family knows, and someone whose

story is not a secret to us. The questions I asked her were the following: How long have you

stayed abroad?, What are the purposes you stayed abroad?, What are your most unforgettable

experiences there?, How will you describe them, good or bad? How will you compare the

Philippines with other countries?, Do you want to go back abroad or go to other countries in the

future? Why or why not?

She was hesitating at first to answer some of my questions because she feels like it’s too

personal, but then she agreed just so, her identity should be anonymous. When I asked her about

how long she has been working abroad, she told me “Mag 3 years na, hindi pa naman matagal,

pero para sakin, sobrang matagal na. Mapagal pa”.

She is a Domestic Helper(DH) at Dubai. She said that working there for years is already very

tiring. I asked her for the reason why she had to leave the Philippines and work as a DH abroad,

she told me, “Syempre, kailangan ko magsakripisyo. Wala akong makukuhang maayos na

trabaho diyan. Para sa pamilya, dakol pa nagkaklase na igin ko”.

She said its for her family. Seeking for good paying job here is hard. Being a mother of 10, it was

her motivation to take a chance and be an OFW. Her husband is a farmer. Out of her 10 children,

only two of them already finished college and are already working as Public School Teachers

while the remaining 6 are still in High School and Elementary and the other 2 are still very

young. Despite having two working children, she feels that their income was still not enough by

the time she first left home. I asked her about her experiences there and good thing is, she told of

good experinces. “Mabuti naman ako dito, maayos naman amo ko. Dakol man kapwa Pinay ko

sadi” She is in a household of good employers, she has good salary to provide for her family, she

have met many Filipina there, and being able to witness a scene abroad is satisfying. She told me

that compare to the Philippines “ibang-iba” or everything about Dubai is different from how the

Philippines is. From building and establishment, high rise skycrapers, mode of transporation, the

status of living, and most especially, language and culture differences. I asked her to rate the

Philippines from 1 to 10 in terms of Dubai, she answered me “5, dugay na” which means we are

very far from achieving their success and modernity. Since she experiences good things as an

OFW abroad, I asked her if she have any plans to continue being a DH or OFW in Dubai or if

she has plans to take a chance in other countries. She simply said no and that her plan is to go

back home before 2021 ends, if she will be able to go home despite the pandemic. She said that

her sacrifices away from family is enough and she already have some savings. Since after 3
years, her two working children is already helping in the needs at home, she is already content.

Being with her family is now her priority.

I consider the people who don’t need to go abroad just to earn money for living, lucky.

Many families celebrate special occasions incomplete. Many families are suffering poverty not

until one crosses other countries. Many families need to be very practical in decisions in

spending money and always choose needs over wants. These families are Filipino Families. The

Philippines has high unemployment rate, few job opportunities and some companies gives very

low compensation. If not because of how our country works, many would not dare leave their

family, but because we are in a third world country with poor governance, many settle for

situations that are risky. In the eyes of an OFW, the life abroad is the root of survival.