OFW Chronicles: Filipinos Abroad

Eden Zaniega de Castro-Villa, who had worked in Hongkong as a household service worker (HSW) to earn dollars for her family in La Union, is now generating much bigger income from her handicraft business, which was expanded with the financial assistance from the Overseas Workers Welfare Association (OWWA). “After working overseas, I decided to go home and open a small school and office supplies and craft store ,” shared Eden, who also at the same time was engaged in silk farming. Source: Official Website of the Department of Labor and Employment For OFWs, this is the kind of story that keeps us motivated to dream. The story of Eden Zaniega re-invigorates my enthusiasm to go on. It gives me hope that someday I too can succeed on my future plans after retiring as an OFW (Overworked Filipino Worker) Oops! I mean Overseas Filipino Worker (smile). Being away from home just to provide for the family is not the life I have imagined of having when I got married. I wanted a simple yet comfo...

When is the Right Time to go Back Home? “There is no place like home, there is no place like home”. Oops!! I forgot I’m not Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz and I don’t have the ruby slippers. She could go to Kansas as long as she can rub the slippers and wish for home but for us OFWs it’s not just rubbing shoes and voila! “Home” we will be, no it doesn’t work that way as there lots of things to consider. One way or the other, every Filipino outside the country has felt the same way. When the going gets tough, home is where we want to be. To be with the family that will comfort, understand and would try to appease our emotional turmoil. When is the right time to go home for good? What does it take to be able to have a decent means of living back in the Philippines? How many more years an OFW must bear to realize what he/she has dreamed of achieving in deciding to go abroad? These are the questions which aren’t that easy to answer. It really depends on the individual concern. When...

In the last two months, it’s all about the tragedies that have came about to our fellow OFWs, a suicide, a baby on a plane’s toilet, a nurse accidentally unplugged life support for a paralyze patient and the last I have come across with is a nurse killed by a prisoner in a jail house. Seldom you’ll hear or read good news about OFWs, even Mr. Google is having a hard time searching. It took me a while to find the story of a former domestic helper in Hong Kong and became a successful business woman. It may not be as fresh as the unfortunate news but a real and inspiring story worth knowing. Agnes Marrero one of the awardees OFWs Successful Entrepreneurs back in December 2006. From a domestic helper in Hong Kong now a business magnate in her own rights in Mt. Province in the Cordillera Region. What’s worth noting is her age when she decided to go abroad, she was near retirement age when she got in Hong Kong and for 15 years she worked hard and harder to be able to save and send her child...

Image via Wikipedia Being an OFW entails lots of things, some became more materialistic, others experienced sufferings beyond comprehensions, and for some few it made them charitable, philantrophist and even successful businessmen and businesswomen who became exemplary employers or "Boss" to their employees. A good example is the story of MARIA LUISA TAYCO founder of Pinokyo a non-profit organiztion which deals with children, instilling the value of always telling the truth and never lie. The group won the Good Samaritan Award