JULKIFLI I.

JULHANI February 14, 2022

“THE WORLD IN THE EYES OF OFW”

The world today is more interconnected than ever has it been before. It
brought our nationals to different parts of the world through the means of today’s
modernized transportation technology. I have interviewed two individuals who went
through the experience of being an OFW and compared their answers. They will help
us realize some insights into what it’s like to be an OFW. The interview followed a
series of questions from the given guide in the activity. I asked both interviewees the
same questions in the same order. Let us introduce our respondents without naming
them. Respondent #1 is 40 years old woman with a diploma in college while on other
hand, respondent #2 is 25 years old woman and is not attending school anymore
after her 2nd year in college. Now let us look at how these circumstances influenced
their lives and made them an OFW.

I asked both the respondents the length of time they have been abroad and
both of them answered that they have been there for 2 years for their 2-year
working contract. I then followed up another question about their purpose on why
they chose to go abroad. The need to support their family and alleviate their
financial status has been the common reason for not just the two respondents but as
well as most of the Filipinos who work abroad. The third question asked them about
their most unforgettable experiences overseas. Respondent #1 expressed her
hardship of working life as an OFW. She stated that she took care of an elderly
woman who needs assistance to be able to perform basic human activities such as
eating, taking showers, and even defecating. Both of the respondents mentioned the
problem of being homesick or experiencing a longing for one's home during a period
of absence from it. Moving on to the fourth question, I asked them to compare their
home country with the countries they have been to. Respondent #1 said that they
have troubles going outside without the permission of their clients and I heard this
same answer from the second respondent. They also added that talking to stranger
men is prohibited which they saw as one of the major cultural differences between
their home country and the foreign land that they were in. Lastly, the final question
was if they are still willing to go back to working abroad. To summarize both their
answers, it seems like they are willing to go back for the same reasons before. In
conclusion, both of the respondents have similar answers to our questions.

I realized after meeting these two OFW that one major factor of globalization
is poverty. People are willing to go abroad in order to alleviate poverty. They start to
seek more opportunities outside the boundaries of their own country. This
phenomenon has been observed even in the age of the great silk road wherein
humans have traveled through vast distances in the hope of good trades.