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.