OFW Chronicles: Filipinos Abroad

Photo by www.flicker.com It was never my intention to leave my family especially my son who is just turning 2 years old this December. I left during the time that he was about to call me “dada”, when he almost about to realize who I am to him, but all those precious moments I can never have with my son, not anymore as I am here in Qatar working to earn money that I cannot get from my motherland. I left my young and beautiful wife to take care of our two precious children, my daughter who is the top of her class always is asking me, “when will you go home Daddy?”. How can I call my self a family man, when all I can do now is to provide for them. Maybe 5 years from now I’ll become a stranger to my own children even to my wife. My only refuge is my belief that someday I don’t have to work as far as I am now, that I will be able to establish a decent business which will be enough to carry us through. Which I guess is the dream of everyone like me working abroad… At least I have so...

Middle east, Qatar still in many ways a conservative Muslim state. During summer the temperature reaches to a staggering 50 degrees more than enough to fry eggs under the sun, in the Philippines 37 degrees is already a phenomenon but enough of the weather, there is nothing I can do about it. Back home I can go outside wearing only my birthday suit as long as my genitals are covered, in here if you are caught not wearing shirt in public is punishable by repatriation. Never mind the gentleman's gesture because you cannot hold the hand of a lady even while crossing the highways, its Haram. Liquor is only accessible to those who have the liquor license, and if you really want to have a sip of the precious liquid you have to pay it double to the licensee, good business eeh? And if caught even just the cap of the battle KALLASH goodbye Qatar hello Philippines. Probably anyone wasting time reading this, is getting the picture….Yes we are like prisoners here with a huge cell. But that’...