CHAPTER 4

RESULTS AND DISSCUSSIONS

Interviews were held with two female participants, specifically participants who are
teachers married to seafarers. The first participant is Faith, and the second participant is Jullie.
The themes were revealed as: “Deciding Factors in Marrying a Seafarer”, “Struggles Faced in
a Long Distance Relationship”, “Household Affairs Management”, and “Family’s Financial
Situation”.

Deciding Factors in Marrying a Seafarer

This theme encapsulates the deciding factors that led the participants to marry a
seafarer, particularly reasons such as divine decree and the inherent characteristics of their
husband.

In response to the question of “What factors led you to marry a seafarer?”, Faith
demonstrates her religious inclination in her reason for marrying a seafarer husband:

“God wills it! We’re meant for each other.”

However, Jullie reveals several varied deciding factors in marrying her seafarer
husband:

“The factors that pushed me to marry my husband is not the fact that he’s a seafarer.
But because I considered him as an exotic and endangered species. Why? Because he doesn’t
have any vices, in fact in his entire life he doesn’t drink alcoholic beverages, he doesn’t smoke
and he is one of the proofs that not all seaman is “seamanloloko”. His family is his top priority.
He is loving, caring, and a faithful husband to me and also a responsible son to his family. It’s
just a bonus that he’s a seaman.”
 Struggles Faced in a Long Distance Relationship
This theme encapsulates the struggles the participants faced in a long distance
relationship, specifically the struggle faced in multi-tasking, dilemmas of what to prioritize,
and communication.

In response to the question of “What struggles do you face because of long distance
relationship?”, Faith shared her struggles with multi-tasking:

“I’ve got two offices, at home and in the workplace. Multi-tasking is the exact word
to describe my life being a mother and a father at the same time.”

Comparably, Jullie revealed that she experienced the same struggle that Faith had been
faced with:

“It’s hard to play two different kinds of role in our family when my husband is away,
because I have to play the role of a father and a mother at the same time. It is quite difficult…”

On the subject of encountering dilemmas of what to prioritize, Faith has this to say:

“When my presence is needed in school activities as well as my children’s school

programs, I often face dilemmas of what to prioritize.”

For Jullie, communication is the biggest obstacle in a long distance relationship:

“Sometimes it takes weeks or even a month before we can communicate.”

Similarly, Faith mentioned that communication is also something she struggles with
in a long distance relationship:

“When my husband calls in the unholy hours, you need to adjust since he needs your
time also.”
 In spite of all the struggles she faces in a long distance relationship, Faith states that:

“…success outside cannot compensate your failures at home. Work is dispensable,

families are not.”

Household Affairs Management

This theme encapsulates the methods the participants utilize in managing their
household affairs, specifically how they cope with their responsibilities at home and how they
deal with the stress of it.

In response to the question of “How do you manage household affairs when your
husband is on board?”, Faith responds with:

“I will summarize it this way. Number one, prayer for God’s unfailing grace and
protection. Number two, proper time management. Number three, stay healthy for many
members depend on me.”

On the contrary, Jullie describes how she handles household affairs when her husband
is out at sea:

“Sometimes I ask for assistance if I can’t perform the household chores from my
mother-in-law or from my father-in-law.”
In spite of how hard it is to be put in charge of managing household affairs because
her husband is on board, Jullie trusts that her husband is also working diligently:

“It is quite difficult, but I know that my husband is doing his best to provide our
family’s needs.”
 Family’s Financial Situation
This theme encapsulates the participants’ personal accounts of their family’s financial
situation, specifically what their family’s monetary condition is when their husbands are on
board or on vacation.

In response to the question of “Can you describe your family’s financial situation?”,
Faith relates that:

“When my husband was on board, of course we are blessed financially or we

experience financial prosperity.”

Likewise, Jullie conveys that her family has the same experience:

“When my husband is on board, our financial status is stable…”

The statements above have confirmed the researchers’ assumption that the nuclear
family of teachers who are married to seafarers are more financially stable compared to other
families whose matriarch are not married to seafarers. However according to the participants’
statements, the state of financial stability only applies when their husband is on board.

In support of the previous statement, when her husband is on vacation, Faith says that:

“When he’s on vacation, we try to budget to make ends meet. We invest on

something.”

Much the same, Jullie states that her family experiences the same setback as Faith’s
family, and she provides a reason why:

“…we fall short of financial needs because there is no income.”

 CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents the summary of findings, the conclusions made, the
recommendations offered, and the reflections the researchers have regarding the research study.

Summary
This research study was conducted in Miagao, Iloilo, on March 2019. In-person
interviews were conducted with two participants who were teachers married to seafarers, namely
Mrs. Faith M. Pariñal and Mrs. Jullie Grace T. Pariñal. The phenomenology approach was utilized
in this qualitative research study. This research study aimed to examine the lived experiences of
teachers to seafarers. It intended to find out the appropriate answers to the following questions:
“What factors led you to marry a seafarer?”, “How would you describe your relationship with your
husband while he is on board?”, “What struggles do you face because of long distance
relationship?”, “How do you manage household affairs when your husband is on board?”, “Can
you describe your family’s financial situation?”.
After administering the interview schedule and conducting the interview, the researchers
used the method of thematic analysis in the data analysis procedure to inspect the data collected,
which as a result produced four themes: “Deciding Factors in Marrying a Seafarer”, “Struggles
Faced in a Long Distance Relationship”, “Household Affairs Management”, and “Family’s
Financial Situation”.

Conclusion
Based on the data collected from the participants concerning what factors they took into
account when they decided to marry a seafarer, the researchers have found that there were two
distinct categories: destiny and disposition. Participant one answered that her choice of a husband
was greatly influenced by God’s will. On the other hand, participant two’s decision in marrying
her husband was shaped by her personal standards.
As demonstrated by the evidence assembled from the information on the kinds of
struggles the participants encountered in a long distance relationship, the researchers have
discovered three main causes: multi-tasking, dilemmas of what to prioritize, and communication.
Both participants have shared their experience as being a mother and father at the same time
because of multi-tasking. Participant one details a situation where she was confronted with
dilemmas of what to prioritize as her presence was required in her school’s activities as well as her
children’s school programs. On one side, participant two conveyed that her greatest hurdle in a
long distance relationship is communication.
Based off of the data compiled from the methods the participants employed in managing
their household affairs, the researchers have identified that the two participants differed from each
other in terms of independence and maturity as a wife. It is evident in participant one’s answer that
she is more self-reliant because nowhere in her answer does she mention that she asks for help
from other people. Participant one summarized her answer in three essentials: Number one, prayer
for God’s unfailing grace and protection. Number two, proper time management. Number three,
stay healthy for many members depend on me. Ina another case, participant two expressed that she
asked assistance from other family members when she had difficulty in performing her
responsibilities.
 As indicated by the information gathered from the members regarding their family’s
financial situation, the researchers have upheld their assumption that the family of teachers who
are married to seafarers are more monetarily stable contrasted with different families whose
matriarch are not wedded to seafarers. This is credited to the fact that a seafarer's profession is a
well-paid occupation that can support and supply the requirements of their family. The seafarer’s
family experiences financial prosperity when he is on board as the flow of income is steady. Along
these lines, the researchers have demonstrated that a seafarer’s family has a better financial status
contrasted with different families. However, when the seafarer husband is on vacation, their family
experiences circumstances of heightened financial want because there is no income to be gained
from the patriarch. Participant one said that she invests in something as a countermeasure for this
situation.

Recommendations
On the basis of the conclusions made, the following recommendations are given:
1. It is recommended that students and jobseekers who pursue to have a seafarer career should
invest a lot of time in carefully contemplating whether they really want to select this
profession. The career path of a seafarer requires their physical presence to be away from
their family and friends for long periods of time.
2. It is recommended that in choosing a suitable spouse, one must put into consideration a lot
of factors such as a person’s personality and predetermination. Marriage is a pact that
entails the married couple to be committed and to spend the entirety of their lives with each
other.
3. It is recommended that seafarers and their wives should invest in something such as a
business endeavor to maintain a steady flow of currency. Even though seafarers have large
wages, that remittance will most likely run dry when seafarers are on a vacation since they
are not receiving any paycheck.
4. It is recommended that seafarers and their wives should maintain consistent and honest
communication and to build trust with each other to strengthen their relationship in spite
of the long distance apart, the gossips and rumors about their marriage, and the potential
 bad influence of the husband’s colleagues and friends to cheat on their wives with other
women.
5. It is recommended that seafarers’ wives should reserve a significant amount of time for
themselves to rest and recuperate, away from all the stress of managing their familial
responsibilities and household affairs. Accumulated stress will negatively affect their
physical, mental and emotional health thus, they will be in greater risk of acquiring harmful
health problems and additionally, they won’t be able to perform their tasks effectively and
create decisions with good judgement for their family.
6. It is recommended that seafarers’ wives should establish an amiable and positive
relationship with their extended families. Extended families can provide physical,
emotional and financial support and assistance for the seafarers’ wives whether their
husbands are on board or on vacation.
7. It is recommended that seafarers’ wives should learn to have tough nerves to prepare
themselves for the unpleasant news of potential adversities that their seafarer husbands
might face out in the open sea such as sea pirates, stormy weather, or accidents involving
seafarers.
8. It is recommended that aside from the usual duties of handling household affairs and
parenting, whenever possible, seafarers’ wives should be able to busy themselves by
having hobbies and recreational activities. Hobbies and recreational activities enhance your
life and can even turn into a profitable career.
9. It is recommended that seafarers’ wives should a helping hand in impelling their children
and husband in forming an intimate and affectionate bond between them. In some
instances, seafarer fathers and their children grow apart emotionally owing to the fact that
seafarer fathers spend a great deal of time isolated from their family.
10. It is recommended that seafarers’ wives should have assent to the reality of the situation
that even when they have the time off from responsibilities at work and home, their seafarer
husbands might not be reached by phone or social media apps such as Facebook and
Messenger in view of the fact of time zone difference or Internet connectivity issues.
Reflection
This is a personal reflection about the research process by Fratini Pariñal, the principal
investigator of the research group.
From start to finish, the journey in molding this research study has been a head-throbbing
and frustration-inducing ordeal. There were a lot of misses and hits, trial and error is the exact
word to describe my experience in creating this research study. This was the first ever research
paper I have ever done, and I had no way to avoid doing this as this was mandatory. Of course, I
was worried because creative writing was my strong suit and academic writing, my Achilles’ Heel.
What is more, I despised doing school group work because in many groups I have been a part of,
every responsibility and workload was forced towards me. Of course, I didn’t want to receive low
grades, so I pushed myself to just take the initiative and lead the group. In addition to that, back in
Junior High, I often heard older students relate their experiences with being required to write 10,
20, 30, 40, 50, and more pages of research work. Naturally, that made me apprehensive, but I
sucked it up as I knew this was a subject that would be an integral part of my life for the consecutive
years to come.
When picking the subject matter of the research study, I wanted to choose one that I felt
was unique. For me that was the lived experiences of teachers married to seafarers. I am
particularly interested in pursuing this subject because my mother is a teacher married to my
seafarer father. I have observed that there were a very limited number of articles concerned with
this topic, and so I decide to delve into this matter more.
As I mentioned earlier, this was my first research paper, so I spent copious amounts of
time surfing the web to expand my knowledge on how to create a research paper. A frequent hurdle
that I faced was the hard task of finding related literature and studies as our topic was an under-
explored one. In order to combat this obstacle, I handed the responsibility of collecting the relevant
studies and literature. As a strategy in forming the paper, I tried to break up the paper in segments
and formed the research paper’s basic framework. By doing this, I was able to focus my thoughts
on one segment at a time, rather than be overwhelmed by the whole exercise. Ultimately, I’m
relieved that I have accomplished in bringing this research study to fruition, and I’m sure that this
experience will help me in succeeding over more research works.