Editors Note: The story is from the book “Migrants’ Stories, Migrants’ Voices 1" published by the Philippine Migrants Rights Watch (PMRW) with the support from Cordaid, an international development organization based in the Netherlands. The book contains a collection of 12 stories of the realities of migration as experienced by overseas Filipino workers and their families. abs-cbnNEWS.com obtained permission from PMRW to publish the stories online.

I came to Dili in January 2001. We were met at the airport by one of our “kabayans” who brought us to the hotel that hired us although we all entered Dili on tourist visas.

My job was a supervisor for housekeeping. It was not easy at the start because the local staff did not want to accept us. They made our work and life a bit difficult like putting off the electricity during our meals such that management later on made us, the non-East Timorese service staff, eat in the same area where the management staff ate.

But after a week or so, things were much better and we proceeded with our work smoothly. Then in March 2001 I met the owner of one of the Beachfront hotels who was then recruiting some workers. I applied and was accepted as bartender. On my third month of working in Dili, I already had two jobs: for the first one I worked from 7am -5pm in the first hotel and for the second job I reported from 6pm to 1am at the Beachfront hotel.

My supervisor in the first hotel knew I had a second job. The two jobs gave good income, but I was really tired and did not have time for socials. Some “kabayans” I met who have been here since 2001 were surprised to know that I have been working here in Dili for the past five years because they have not seen me around.

On the year I arrived in Dili there were many jobs available. I had many job offers. Although I did not finish my college degree, work experience helped a lot. I worked in the first hotel for a year (until 2002) and then I worked fulltime at the
Beachfront hotel from 8am to 3pm. But I also got a second job as supervisor of the local staff for a company that provided services for expats. My second job was from 3 to 6 pm. I held two jobs until October 2002. From then on, I just maintained one job and worked only at the Beachfront hotel.

This is actually my second time to work abroad. I worked in Riyadh for three years from 1996 to 1999 in a clinic complex as a janitress. The clinic had medical services, gym, spa, beauty salon, aerobics, and coffee shop. My work experience in Riyadh was good as I got along fine with my “kabayans” most of the time, but freedom of movement was very limited. When we went out, we had to wear the traditional clothes, the “abaya” and “tarha.” One time, we went out and saw one of our coworkers having an encounter with the “Mutawa.” She forgot to bring her tarha so the Mutawa called her attention. She tried to raise her abaya over her head but then she exposed her legs so her attention was called and the Mutawa wanted to bring her to the police station for being improperly dressed. It was good that one of us had an extra tarha and we gave this to her.

When we went shopping, the clinic provided transportation but we had to observe the time schedule because it was not good to take the taxi on our own. The driver keeps track of who among us stayed behind and he reported this to the clinic manager. If we got into trouble and ended up in the police station, the clinic would help us to be released, but the expenses incurred to get us out was charged to our salaries.

Socials were difficult, especially celebration of Christian feasts like Christmas. That is why I find life and work here in Dili so much better.

I decided to try working abroad when the factory I worked for in Manila closed in 1995. I am the eldest of five children so when my father had a stroke in 1993 and was bedridden I became the breadwinner of our family. When I became jobless, my board mate encouraged me to try and apply at the recruitment agency where she also applied for a job in the Middle East. I left for Riyadh in 1996.

All my three brothers and a sister finished high school and they all got married early. They now have their own families. My youngest sister lives near our house so she helps look after our mother. While I provide a monthly allowance for our mother and the maintenance of the house, my brothers and sister take care of her meals.

My mother is a widow now. My father passed away in July 2001. When I left for Dili, he told me to take care of myself. He also told me that he may not be around for long and if he passes away while I was abroad, I should not worry about going home because he understood my situation.

When I received the sad news in Dili about my father’s death, I remembered what my father told me. So I just sent some money to my family, the money I would have spent for my airfare to help them with the funeral expenses. This was understood by my mother, my sisters and my brothers but not by my relatives on my father. To this day, my uncles and aunties resent the fact that I did not go home for my father’s funeral especially since I went home for my brother’s funeral the following year. I explained to my uncles the conversation and agreement I had with my father before I left for Dili but they refused to listen.

When I went home again in 2004, they still did not talk to me. My brother died of cancer in March 2002. I had already settled my placement and airfare expenses with my agent and I was also entitled to paid leave so I went home. He left behind four children ages 1, 4, 10 and 12 years old. They live near our house and their children often stay with my mother to keep her company. My sister-in-law earns a living as a dressmaker and has not remarried. We told her that we will understand if she will remarry but it is important for her prospective second husband to accept and take care of her children with my brother.

I also help my sister-in-law with her expenses for the children. I care for my family and what I earned working overseas enabled me to help them through the years. Other than just the daily expenses at home, I also wanted our family to have our own house so with my earnings from Riyadh I invested in a residential lot. When I finished my contract in Riyadh, I went home to a crisis situation. I spent most of my savings for my mother’s major operation. At the same time, I also found out that my mother had pawned the residential lot that I had purchased for the family. I was devastated.

While looking after my mother in Manila after her operation, I met with the labor recruiter who helped me with the job placement in Riyadh. She asked me if I was interested to work in Dili, Timor Leste. I said yes but that I did not have money for the placement fees because of my mother’s operation. She visited me in our home in the province and she saw my situation. She told me that she will facilitate my job placement in Dili and to worry about the placement fees later. She arranged my job placement and I only had to spend first for the airfare from Denpasar to Dili and some pocket money.

I have been working here in Dili for almost six years now. My work at the Beachfront hotel had been quite good – from the position of bartender, I am now the operations manager. When the owner goes on trips, I manage the hotel for him.

Over the years, I have earned the trust and confidence of the owner and have demonstrated my loyalty. There are times when the local staff does not show up for work and management can count on me to fill in from housekeeping to kitchen duty. And during the incidents of violence and the crisis situation – I stayed on.

The first one was on December 2, 2002 when trouble makers destroyed or burned many business establishments in Dili. The hotel owner had just gone overseas the day before, 1st December. We locked the gates of the hotel when the violence in the city was escalating. Some of the trouble makers were forcing us to open the gates. We refused and some of them climbed the walls and set some of the hotel umbrellas on fire. Together with some of the guests, we put out the fire with our water hoses as well as protect the stock of gas cylinders. We were in contact all the time with the owner so he knew what was happening and also gave us advice.

We succeeded in securing the hotel and the guests. That experience bolstered the hotel’s reputation with the expat community resulting to frequent full bookings for the hotel.

The second crisis was in April through May 2006. I stayed on together with the owner and his family and the rest of the Filipino staff. We had to do most of the housekeeping and kitchen work because the local staff did not report for work and we had guests to take care of. But it was really scary to work while we could hear gunfire all around. We were then working with “kabayans” who also stayed behind because we all needed our jobs especially for our families back home. If we left, we were not sure whether we could still have our jobs back.

The owner and his family in turn, had been very supportive. My work hours are flexible as long as I accomplish the agreed tasks for the day. I have a service vehicle which I drive myself. He is always approachable regarding work and personal concerns. He and his family make all the staff feel that we are all one big family. They also know how to express their appreciation for the loyalty and hard work of the staff. For all of the staff who stayed on during the crisis in April and May, we were all given cash bonuses.

I am quite secure in my job now and I look forward to working here for some more years. It is not easy to be away from home but the company of good friends here in Dili helps a lot. I enjoy going out with good friends. We sometimes take walks on the beach, eat out, have picnics, go to karaoke bars on weekends, dinner parties, etc. We also pray together.

But I continue to be concerned with my family especially my mother. It has not been easy because I feel that I have done so much to help my family because I care for them. They have been my priority through all these years. I recall the hardships and dangers I went through just to be able to earn and to send money to my family especially my mother. But somehow I feel that my efforts are not truly appreciated. My family, especially my mother, does not really seem to care.
And the recent bad news showed this. I was looking forward to going home for the holidays until I received a very distressing news from home. My mother had not been paying the monthly installments I was sending for a residential lot.

After my mother mortgaged the first residential lot I bought from my earnings in Riyadh, I started to invest in another residential lot. I had been sending payments for this property for some 11 months now. These payments are in addition to the monthly allowance that I sent my mother. Hence, to be able to keep the residential lot, I sent the money I had set aside for the holidays. Now, I am directly in touch with the real estate agent to make sure that they receive my payments.

This is the cross I have to carry — to take care of my mother, who is addicted to gambling. I am trying hard to bear my cross although it is not that easy. I recognize that the current job I have now is a blessing – the owners are good and supportive, I have a managerial position, good pay along with the benefits and privileges. Hence, I will continue to work and take care of my mother but at the same time, I will continue to take care of myself.

A good friend always reminded me to make sure that I provide for my own needs too because who else will take care of me? I am not getting any younger – nearing forty and never been married although I have been through a number of relationships. I do look forward to having my own family because I believe in love.