REALITY NG BUHAY OFW - Part 2

Hard Part of Being an OFW is Leaving….

 Whenever I am alone I can’t help it but to recount past events in my life, asking questions and stupid enough in trying to find answers. Why am I here in a foreign land, totally different culture or should I say mix of cultures? Does my eldest daughter know that I have left them to provide for them?

 Will my four year old son still see me as his father? I was able to be with my family last April for a month and I am lucky enough that my boy and I didn’t have any trouble bonding, he has this charming character of being able to deal with strangers, yes I was a stranger to him because I left him when he was only 15 months old and have no memory of me. As for my daughter and even with my wife there was this awkwardness but with much effort I was able to patched up things and my vacation was enough to energize me for yet another year of being away from them.

It is unfair for OFWs to be treated as revenue mill or as OFWs consider themselves as government’s milking cow. With their dollar remittances that keep the Philippine economy afloat including the strengthening of peso against the dollar, it is unfortunate that the government continue to levy additional fees on this sector. Although OFWs do not oppose government’s plan to provide universal health insurance to the poor, it is immoral to use solidarity to burden the already suffering workers overseas.

REALITY NG BUHAY OFW - Part 1

This is my life... my story as an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) abroad.

As they say, being an OFW is difficult. But behind every OFW, is a story that needs to be heard.

 

 

 I’ve been a witness to a lot of dramas that usually take place at the NAIA airport. Families hugging at the parking area, husbands, wives and children crying, and well-wishers who incessantly give requests and final instructions to their “dearly-departing”. Yes … overrated as it may sound, but for us OFWs, leaving is like a yearly trip to the lethal injection chamber. That’s why, teary-eyed, highly emotional and hyper-sensitive passengers normally roam around our busy airport every day, and that includes me.

 So to keep myself busy while waiting for my flight, I normally observe my fellow OFWs and most of the times have small chats with them especially with the first timers. Then, after the small talks, I would usually sit back and stare at the airplanes outside the departure gate thinking about the life I am about to embrace again going back to the foreign land.

 Honestly, the feeling is unbearable even since I started working abroad. That’s why, I cannot help but wonder how could someone who stayed for 25 years or more in the Middle East to bear to go through the same feeling (technically) for 25 times?

We have this notion that when someone is an OFW or based abroad, he or she is loaded. Not true. An OFW might earn from P50K-P300K a month, depending on the location. Those in Saudi Arabia or the United States might earn in the high range. But to say that they're 'rich' is a fallacy (amen!).There's no place like home.

For some OFW's the notion maybe true but for most it's a fallacy like what the author of the article where I got the excerpt said. I have seen the plight of some unfortunate Filipinos working here in Qatar and even heard of some earning as low as QR 700.00 that is roughly Php 8,360.00. Imagine the hardships and the sacrifices it takes just to earn that meagre amount so they can send money home. I just can't imagine how they are surviving with that salary as the cost of living here is relatively higher compare to Saudi Arabia. My food allowance here ranges from QR 500 to 700 depending on what I prepare for my meal. I don't even want to know what he or she may be eating on every meal. Just the thought makes me feel bad but for the sake of their love ones back in the Philippines they are willing to take and bear everything.

• If you go and work abroad, expect hard labor, not just strolling and shopping.
•  Salary value is not that high in the foreign country you will be in but it is a good money because you can support your family in the Philippines.

  Expect the worst but use your mind in everything you do. Do not let others discriminate you. Just learn to manage difficulties – away from home, family and working with different nationalities.

 Your employers give you the salary so spend wisely. Employers are not that emotional or sensitive to your needs. They just expect you to work. Use your other skills, they value the money that they give to you, so work hard for it.

• Don’t trust anyone quickly as not everyone could sympathize with you. You have to learn to face your own battles alone.

Imagine how hard it is to go and work abroad, just to earn money? People in the Philippines better show your OFW family the value that they should get in exchange to the hardships they experienced when they are working abroad.

OFWs standing in the queue at NAIA Immigration

OFWs going to OFW Lounge at NAIA for OEC Verification / Authentication hours before flight departure.