Everybody says that in every parts of the world, in every country, you can find Filipinos out there. That is because most of the Filipinos choose to work abroad because they prefer high salary in order to feed their family and give them a decent life. Compared to the Philippines where unemployment rate is higher, the salary and compensation are also not enough compared with their income abroad. However, due to their desire to provide their family a good life, they choose to be away from their family and be slave of another country.
In exchange for money, they trade their time working instead of spending them with their loved ones. I am not speaking ill of the Filipinos who are working abroad because my father too is an OFW. In actuality, I am proud of them because they are our modern heroes. Without their remittances, our country would have long suffered from poverty and economic failure. However despite the success and good income of an OFW, there are also negative effects of being away from a family for a long time.
Speaking of which, I remember the movie ‘Anak’ played by famous actresses Vilma Santos and Claudine Barreto. In the story, Claudine was a rebellious daughter growing up away from her mother. Her mother, Vilma Santos was an OFW working for several years to provide her family a decent life. Yes, she indeed gave them a decent life, having all the things they want. However, when Vilma came home after her husband’s funeral, she was shocked to find out that her children do not seem to care about her. Her oldest daughter, Claudine does not seem to have any affection towards her. Her only son, portrayed by Baron Geisler, was not talking to her. Even though she tried hard to talk to them, to pursue them but nothing worked. The worst part was when Claudine got herself involved in many mischief doings, taking drugs and getting pregnant at an early age. The movie ended Vilma going back to her work abroad, but before she leave for abroad, she made Claudine realized that it was not easy for her to leave them and it was hard for her taking care of other children while she do not have time to take care of her own.
This movie moved my heart deeply because I know the feeling of being a child of an OFW. Sometimes, I think that the other children are very lucky to have both their parents attend all the important events in their life. I know I’m lucky too because I have a very hard working parents, and that I have a decent life and because of that I am able to graduate in a prestigious school. However, sometimes I can’t help but feel sad.
My father, who is working as a seaman up until now, has not attended any of my birthday and graduation. This is one of the reasons why I strive very hard to excel in my studies so that I can at least repay them for their hard work. In addition, I made my father promised me that he will attend my graduation once I graduated college with flying colours. My wish was fulfilled when I graduated cum laude in my batch, and father was finally able to come to my graduation. I was even happier when our family, the four of us, went for a vacation abroad. I was so happy because it’s been a long year since our family went for a vacation, just the four of us. Unlike other children of OFWs, I do not hate my father nor ignore him when he comes home. Instead, I always see to it that my father feels loved and welcomed.
But we must remember that not all OFW families end up in a happy ending. There are some families who were abandoned by OFWs. There are several reasons why abandonment happened. Some of them are third party, problematic relationship between spouses, vices, absence/distance and loneliness. This abandonment of the OFW parent has negative effects especially on their children. Some of the effects on children, they are starting to feel hurt, mad, sad, disappointed and wanted to avenge. They also became a rebellious children due to lack of guidance, misses their father or mother, they started to long for father’s or mother’s love and care, their education is affected which could lead to poor performance and a sudden attitude and behavioral change.
Being an OFW is hard because you need to be away from your family for a long time. Being a child of an OFW is also hard because sometimes there is a gap formed between a child and an OFW parent. However, this can be prevented by constant communication with each other for communication is important for the OFW families. Nowadays, with the rise of internet and cell phone, communication is just one click away.
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