OFW Chronicles: Filipinos Abroad

Good news for Filipinos who are just about to embark on a journey and becoming OFWs. It's about time that our "benevolent" lawmakers in the Philippines give some importance to what the government keeps on calling "Bagong Bayani". This a very significant and relevant bill for future OFWs and their families. I know how hard it is to find substantial amount to spend on processing expenses before you can even leave the country, much more for the living expenses of the family that will be left behind.

What is the hardest battle an OFW must fight? A sickness that cannot be cured with prescription drugs; and there are no hospitals or clinic for this condition. “ Homesickness ” a paralyzing mental condition wherein a person cannot sleep and loses appetite to eat, very common to people that work outside of their homeland leaving their families behind.

I can smell the “Spirit of Christmas” but I cannot feel the joy it brings like it does when I am still back home in the Philippines. Christmas in the Middle East is just an ordinary working day unless it falls on a Friday. Unfortunately this year it falls on a Thursday and it only means that while almost all people around the world are celebrating CHRISTMAS we the “Middle Easterners” are in the office working and contemplating at the same time. Maybe I can treat myself with a piece of shawarma after office and walk along the corniche (Bay area) and probably order “milked tea” while trying to enjoy the cold breeze.