Dahil mahal kita.
Creator:
Sara Laderas (She/her)
One very common experience among Filipino (both home and diasporic) communities is the presence of children living in the Philippines, and the absence of their parents around them, instead being Overseas Foreign Workers (OFWs) in different places around the world such as Canada, the UK, and the UAE. This kind of family arrangement can create immense friction between family members, resentment amongst children who long for their parents, and unsafe social situations for such workers as they become precariously employed overseas with no safety nets to protect them. These stories don’t make it to mainstream consciousness in Western societies; but that lack of exposure belies the extent to which Filipinos (again, both at home and in the diaspora) are affected by this OFW industry. There is a good chance that, in your day-to-day interactions, whether it’s with a nurse, a care-aide, a hospitality staff, or some other professional, you’ve come across an OFW who has a child and other family members waiting for them in the Philippines. I invite you to consider what life circumstances might compel you to take on this risky and difficult journey like them, and how this might impact you.