So It is Christmas

Christmas spirit in the Philippines comes earl...

Christmas is around the corner as they say. I cannot spot on the right corner though; I’ve been looking for four straight years now and it’s seems that I couldn’t really find it in here. Celebrating Christmas away from home, family and friends is the most difficult part of being an OFW. Yeah, I could party with friends, I could drink the night away, and I can dance for all I care but deep inside, there is an empty space. The longing for my family, laughs of my kids and the warm embrace of my wife. All I can do is be with the moment, convince myself that I am happy. Half-truth laughs can be handy as I hide my sadness.

Oh well, at least back home, they can celebrate Christmas and a call to them would lessen the pain of not being there. (I hope Telecommunication Networks will do great this year). Every Christmas and every New Year, I only have one wish “I hope next year I will celebrate the holidays with my family”.

Four years made me forget how it feels to celebrate the holidays. I’m not even familiar with the decorations anymore. Only when someone will mention about it that I’ll think of it or when I hear some Christmas Carols playing on somebody’s mobile phone. I know some of those who will read this may say I’m too melodramatic, well sorry for me; I am and couldn’t do something about it.

But even if holidays isn’t that a big deal here in the Middle East, what matters is we the OFWs will make sure that our families back home would have the best Christmas every year. And for us, a night with friends, singing and dining together will suffice as of the moment. Until then all we can do is hope and wish that next year will be different. Christmas with Family...that is all there is.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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Loans Available for OFW

The Philippine Government particularly OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) which is the lead institution that serves the interest and welfare of member-Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) has come up with a program which main purpose is to help and Finance some livelihood programs of OFW and their families through Financial Loans. Please see below the description and the criteria for the said program.

Are OFW's Rich?

"Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are not rich. 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 - Living Abroad : 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 compared to Saudi Arabia. My food allowance here ranges from QR 5...

One Car for Every OFW Tax Free

Image via Wikipedia One lazy evening my buddy Delfin, his wife and I were having coffee at a nearby coffee shop to where we live here in Qatar, it’s the usual conversation until it lead to about how difficult it is to acquire a Qatar driving license, then we turn to cars on how easy it is to own one here because banks here are so aggressively offering car loans to those who are interested even to those that are not interested. It is easier to buy a car abroad than in our country as the banks ask only of minimal requirements unlike in the Philippines where banks have their own agents to look into the credit standing of the person who is applying for a loan and sometimes even go deeper than that, as if he is some kind of a criminal being under surveillance but that’s my own observation anyway.

OFW Chronicles: Filipinos Abroad

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