a filipino overseas foreign worker was found dead inside the lavatory of a ‘gulf air’ plane the other day. that plane is the same one i take every time i go home for days off. i read he took his own life while the plane was preparing to land in manila, using a ‘clothing article’ to asphyxiate himself by hanging.
it is not easy being away from one’s family. here in the middle east, there are instances that one will be assigned for work remotely, with limited ways of communication. i have been working here in saudi arabia for five years and have seen co-workers who were in the brink of ‘losing’ it, specially when there are problems back home with their families.
i remember way back, my ma never tells my father who is also in saudi arabia any ‘bad news’ as much as possible. she even warns me and my siblings not to write or call about to him anything that might make him worry or make him sad because she said being away from us is already hard for him and it will just leave him feeling helpless. i followed my father’s footsteps of working here in the mideast, it was then that i appreciated my father more, for i clearly saw the sacrifice he did for our family.
i am thinking of the man on that plane. is it self-sacrifice or his last resort to escape? his exact reason no one will really know for he has brought it with him to his grave.
sensory replays 
all i am is an outsider looking in . . i’ve never been an ofw and never had a relative who is an ofw (i have relatives in the us, pero buong pamilya naman sila andun).
but i understand the sacrifice and difficulties that ofws make and go through. mahirap talaga.
.. it is, and some have no outlet to go to when they get emotionally imbalanced.
hhmm, bakit kaya? at sa plane nya pa naisip magpakamatay.. the burden must really be overwhelming na di na nya kinaya..
anyway sure na uuwi ka na? may i know anong dates?
email nga kita.. ayoko dito.. hehe.
.. i also think so, chyng. i checked my mail, nasa ‘spam’ yung message mo, haha.
what a sad story… yes… working abroad without your family must be difficult. you don’t marry to be separated in the end.
.. yes sidney, it really can be.
despite my homesickness, sadness and effort in adjustment, i am keeping my sanity intact and will not hang myself or jump from the veranda of my room, hell no! ha ha ha..
seriously, now that i am an expat/ofw myself, my respect for the others who do the same sacrifice for family and other reasons became more meaningful.
.. that’s crazy, gelo! i know you better not! haha!
.. and yes we do realize everything when we have experienced it.
hey rob
it’s my first time to drop by at your blog . . you are right, sacrifices to our families talaga pag nasa abroad and i hate also when my family say bad stories in the philippines kaze mag isa lang tayo sa abroad at nakakaapekto sa araw araw natin ginagawa.
.. hi che! thanks for dropping by.
.. surely maaapektuhan ka talaga on instances like that.
mahirap talaga maging ofw. wala ka sa comfort zone mo. bilib ako sa mga ofws. bow ako. kasi risk talaga ang mapalayo ka. haaay.
.. kung kasama mo yung ‘special someone’ mo dyanie, ok lang mag-ofw. hehe.