An Open Letter of a Pinoy OFW

To my son,

Baby, you’re the most precious and sweetest blessing I have ever received in my entire life. You’re my love, my world, my life. At your age, I know you don’t totally understand the reasons why I am working away from home… living a thousand miles away from you. I am sorry my love for all the times that you feel alone. I am sorry for missing your birthdays, your school recognition ceremonies, your school events, and your weekends when all you wanted to do is to go somewhere to play and eat good food. I am sorry baby for not being able to hug you and comfort you when you’re scared... when you’re mad at things... when you’re sick… and when you’re sad. I am sorry for not giving you a good night’s kiss on your forehead during bedtime. I am sorry if you’re the most affected person of the choice I’ve made working abroad. However, please don’t ever forget that I am always here for you. Praying for you every single day. God knows how much I missed you. I love you my son forever and always. I hope to see you soon.

To my beloved family,

For all these years, I have been prioritizing our family’s needs. No matter how hard things for me, it’s perfectly fine, as long as you’re all happy. I am sorry if too often I have been caught up in my daily work routine. I know you’re thinking of me and you worry about me sometimes. I do miss you. Please understand that no matter how strong I am, I also have my weakest point. I also have my breakdowns of loneliness and sadness. During these times, I just want to feel that I am loved and cared for. As a family, I like you to be strong for me when I am weak. You’re my blood and my solid rock. I love you and I can’t wait to spend Christmas and vacation getaways with you all.

To my best of friends,

I can’t thank you enough for not making distance a big deal of our friendships. Thank you for being the ones I can count on when life emotionally gets tough. Thank you for making everything better. Please know I appreciate you and I am very grateful to have you all around. I love you and miss you so much. Looking forward to more waves of laughter and tears with you all. Cheers to more years of friendship!

To the kind-hearted and generous people,

You know who you are. No words can truly express how grateful and thankful I am for your generosity and kindness. You were there during my family’s grief and hardships. You were there extending any means of help either financial or moral support. I owe you a debt of gratitude. I will forever indebted to your goodness. You’re all a blessing to me and to my family. May God continue to pour out blessings to you and your family circle.

To the people who don’t understand the feeling of being away from home,

Please know that what you see on social media of an OFW like me is most of the time curated. Personally, I don’t usually post my depression and anxiety about missing home. I don’t want my family to get worried. Generally, OFWs have petrifying situations. We do have trouble sleeping at night, crying our hearts out for the longings we feel. Going to bed at night without our loved ones is tough and yet, waking up each day and getting back the strength together for the day’s work is tougher. This choice we’ve made is very challenging for it pushed us beyond our comfort zone. Therefore, no judgments! Before we came here, we already defined our reasons, our goals, our expectations, and our struggles in taking this greatest risk. The feelings of disorientation and possible isolation are real. There’s nothing that can be hard being away from your family and friends. Thus, be thankful that you don’t get the chance of being in our shoes. We aren't all the time brave yet, we have to be still and entrust to God all our doubts, worries, and fears. He is our greatest source of strength. You don’t exactly know our stories, so better be quiet when you have nothing good to say. Don't be too nosy! Want more truth about our personal and social situations? Put yourself in our shoes. But to do that, you have to get out of your own.

To my fellow Filipinos working abroad,

Truly this path we chose to take is undoubtedly an enriching experience. We may stumble and fall at times along our journey… We may feel bored and tired with our daily grinds… We may feel low and weary… Always remember we got what it takes to be in a foreign land. We definitely can break free and soar high. We have gypsy souls who are born to wander and in our respective time, we’ll soon reap the sweetest fruits of our labor. Let’s keep the fighting spirit within us and be more passionate about what we have our hearts set on. Let’s surrender gratefully to where ever life takes us. Thus, we need to grow and be brave for our family back home, for their happiness is our greatest joy. Most importantly, let’s continue to love ourselves more and be more focused in this lifelong quest. God bless us all!

Sincerely,

Jojie Chai