“No family is perfect, we argue we fight. We even
stop talking each other at times, but in the end, family is family the love is
always be there.” –Varsha Sharma
OFW or Overseas Filipino Workers are the people who
leave their love ones for good opportunities abroad. Lots of Filipinos are
working abroad because here in the Philippines we are lack of jobs, the other
countries give a good salary and they also have many opportunities. Jeffrey
Hays (2008) said 10% of Philippines population have worked outside the
Philippines. Filipinos work in every country, more than 2.5 million works in
United States and nearly a million in Saudi Arabia, with hundreds of thousands
more working in the Middle East, mostly as maids and labourers and about 70% of
Filipino workers are legal. The other 30% are undocumented illegal workers. The
life of OFW is not easy because you need to find a job and work hard to earn
money and not everyone can go to another country because they don’t have enough
money to support the requirements and needs to go abroad.
In the story of Sadness Collector the characters are
the Big Lady, Rica’s Father, Rica’s Mother and Rica. It talks about a girl who
is left by her mother to work abroad. When Rica was 3 years old her father told
her a story about the Big Lady after her mother left them for Paris. She always
listened all night, noises from the kitchen, she thought it was Big Lady who
are now collecting sadness. She always makes sure that her nightly tears
remained small and few. The first year when her mother sent all colours of the
rainbow for her long and unruly hair, her father doesn’t know how to make it
more graceful. It took him some time to learn and perfect the ponytail for
Rica. When her mother left them, her father served as a mother for Rica. It was
hard for him, but he would do anything for his daughter. Her aunties never
agreed with Rica’s mother’s decision to work abroad as a domestic helper,
taking care of other people’s children than taking care of her own child, but
Rica’s mother only wants to earn good money and to sustain their needs and
wants, also to give them a better life. Years have passed Rica is now 6 years
old, but still she believed there was a Big Lady. As time goes by she has many
questions about her mother, because of that her father makes sure he comes home
late each night, so he won’t have to answer the questions. One night, Rica
heard noises in the kitchen, she thinks it was Big Lady. She got scared and
screams out of her bedroom and she went to the kitchen. She didn’t notice it
was her father who made the noises, because of Rica’s scream and also her
father was drunk he slapped Rica. He had no intention of slapping Rica he was
carried away of his anger and intoxication. When they had the conversation he
said “she can’t take you away from me,” he means Rica’s mother, he thought that
she might take Rica away from him and because he loves Rica so much he would do
everything he can to get Rica away from her mother.
In the story
of Sadness Collector by Merlinda Bobis, the author shows us that Rica’s mother
left them to work abroad because she wants to give her family a good life and
to provide for their needs and wants but she didn’t know that her daughter and
her husband suffered too much when she left them. It shows how Rica’s father
cares and raised her, he even make a story about this Big Lady who collects
sadness just to avoid Rica from crying
or being sad for her mother’s absence. Years have passed, Rica’s father always comes home late just to avoid
questions from her that he could not answer, and because it has huge impact for
him about his wife who went to abroad he did not even realize he had neglected
his daughter.
Being an OFW is difficult and challenging because
you need to leave your family and love ones just to earn good money to sustain
their needs and wants and of course to give them a better life. It is okay to
work abroad but it is also hard because again you have to leave your family
behind and endure the pain and longing for your family, specially to the
parents who works abroad because you can’t take care of your own child. It is
also painful for those who are left behind because they need to be strong so that
the people who left them would not worry too much and for the children who
can’t experience being taken care by their parents. It is difficult if you have
one family member who is away but as a family you only have one goal and it is
to give a better life for your family. Even if the family members fight
sometimes or there is a misunderstanding, at the end of the day, family will
still work together and no matter what happens Family is always a Family.
Reference:
Hays, J. (2015, June). Overseas Filipino Workers.
Retrieved from http://factsanddetails
.com/southeast-asia/Philippines/sub5_6g/entry-3918.html
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