Homesickness sends Pinay packing in Jeddah By RONALDO CONCHAMarch 7, 2014 12:58pm JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Luming (not her real name) was about to work as a domestic helper to a Saudi family when homesickness took over her. The emotion was so strong that she spent her first day on the job crying, prompting her terrified employer to bring her to the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah. “She kept on crying the whole night and my family got afraid that she might do something, so I decided to just send her home at once,” her employer told GMA News in an interview Monday. Luming (right) at the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah. Photo by Ronaldo Concha “I could not believe what happened,” the employer added, noting that Luming had been begging them to send her home. In a separate interview, Luming apologized for the trouble she caused, adding she suddenly realized — albeit belatedly — that she couldnt live without her children. She said she was crying the moment her plane landed in Saudi Arabia. Luming also said she tried to back out while still in the Philippines, but her agency threatened that she will have to pay back the processing fees incurred amounting to over P200,000. At the consulate, Philippine Overseas Labor Office and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration officials advised Luming to reconsider her decision. Even her husband, phoning in from Manila, tried to convince her to stay in Saudi Arabia. Luming, however, was adamant, saying she is ready to face the consequences of her actions. Homesickness Lumings case underscores the depression new OFWs face in their jobs, and highlights the sacrifices made by migrant workers in order to provide for their families back home. The advocacy group Kaagapay ng Bawat OFW, which endorsed Luming to OWWA, said incidents of new workers escaping their employers are not at all unusual. Fortunato Atoy Esguerra, the groups project director and spokesperson, said they already documented four domestic helpers this year who escaped from their work while others refused to work because of homesickness. Esguerra urged the government to check on the procedure of the Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar to departing OFWs, especially to household service workers bound to the Middle East. Assistant Labor Attache Olivia B. Macawili, for her part, advised those who are planning to work abroad, especially in the Middle East, to anticipate homesickness and prepare to deal with it before pushing with their plans to avoid ending up like Luming. “You have to make sure of yourself first before you work abroad so that you will not regret it later,” she said. Macawili called on all recruitment agencies in Manila to make sure that their applicants are physically, mentally and emotionally ready before deploying them abroad. Luming left Jeddah on Tuesday via a Saudi Arabian flight and arrived in Manila the next day. — KBK, GMA News
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 07:43:11 +0000
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