Dubai: Like thousands of guest workers, Filipina Luz Viminda Abad, was having a ball of a time, enjoying the expatriate lifestyle. Her Dubai dream, that lasted 16 years, however came crashing down in 2009 when she lost her job and her boyfriend dumped her when she was five months pregnant. Luz delivered the baby in 2010 with the help of an underground midwife in a Rashidiya villa, thereby evading authorities. Subsequently when she applied for an amnesty last January, she was sentenced to jail for having an illegitimate child and overstaying. It was only during her jail term that she got a birth certificate for her child. Abad completed her jail term last month, but was stuck in limbo. With a child in her arms and no money, the long wait for the deportation process to kick in and a ticket to fly back home was an ordeal in itself. Enter Lola Lopez, founder of Volunteer in UAE who helped raise money for Abad’s ticket through social media campaigns on Facebook and Twitter. “My job is to get these ladies or mums with infants and babies out of the country as fast as possible. Most times, they remain in custody even after serving their sentences or having been pardoned because they don’t have funds to fly back home. “That’s where I step in, raising awareness about expectant mums and mothers with babies. People willing to help then contact me to contribute for flight tickets,” said the British-born campaigner of Spanish origin. This is not the first time Lopez has helped these women. Only this week, five women, four with babies and one seven-month pregnant woman -- all deported and facing permanent bans -- returned home. “A sixth one, Rodini Sutarjo, is going home tonight. She has a three-year-old boy,” said Lopez.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 23:57:28 +0000
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