OFWGuide.com

This website is a Filipino site for OFW and for Filipinos interested in working overseas. On this website workers can search on how to obtain a job and get all the proper paperwork, find a job, see what are scams, and advice about living and working in another country.

One of the items that I wanted to focus on my blog is the abuse of Filipina women. I learned that many were physically, emotionally and a sexually abused by their employers. Some employers would even hold on to passports and legal documents so that employees cannot leave the country.

A feature on the website is a Scams portion. In this area, it would post potential job scams around the world. It even gives advice on how to look for jobs and seek out potential scammers. One of the scams that it talks about is one in Veitnam where someone is out to get people’s money.

Another important feature is a job search engine. There are jobs in many different disciplines, from education to medicine to domestic work. Two popular jobs that I have heard about are domestic workers and nurses. These jobs have been labeled as a feminine job so many women would go overseas in to work in those fields.
One other good feature is the Laws and Visas. In this portion of the website, employees can look up information regarding laws in different countries about immigration, obtaining different forms required to work, and even the views on immigration of politicians. Articles also give updates on upcoming laws that will affect incoming workings.

There is a lot of information on this website for employers. With hundreds of articles, this website should be helpful when it comes to looking at potential new jobs.

Another Personal Blog

I thought about my first blogger’s choice and I began to think about my cousin and her experience with overseas Filipina workers. She went to high school in Kuwait while her dad was serving in the military and she told me and my other cousins of how her family housed many Filipinas who worked as domestic workers and were running away from the families that they stayed in. my cousin saw her home as a sanctuary for these women. I cant recall the details, but in general, she told us that the women were being physically abused by their employers and needed to get away from them. Some employers even kept the passports and immigration papers so that the women cannot leave the country.

I remember when I first heard this story; I was very surprised because I did not know much about OFWs at the time and what they were. I heard her story in 2006 and even though I was involved in progressive Filipino groups, I was not familiar with this topic until 2007.

I wanted to look at stories from Kuwait and I stumbled upon a story of a 16 year old OFW that worked as a domestic worker. She was raped by her employer and tried to report it to Philippine Overseas Labor Office through her brother. Her brother tried to get in touch with POLO and the Embassy but was unsuccessfully to get any answers or getting the case investigated by anyone. From the time of that story, the female was still working for the same employer that raped her. I am shocked by this because even though she was helping out her family, she was dehumanized when she got raped and no one would help her out.

OFW: From A Personal View

A few weeks ago I read the article, "The Care Crisis in the Philippines" in Global Woman. I read both the positive and negative effects that children had with parents working out of the country. Children who understood the sacrifices that their parents made and have a supportive family system back home tend to not feel abandoned by their family and do better in their academics.

Just last week, I was on the telephone with my mother and I was telling her about the article I blogged about for week two. She then told me that my two cousins and their husbands are working in Spain as Overseas Filipino Workers. I thought it was interesting knowing how close to home OFW is to me. I know that my parents can be seen as OFW's because they sometimes do send month to relatives overseas. But this time, I saw OFW in a transnational perspective in my family. My two cousins, Irma and Vida, have a family. (I think Irma has 4 children and Vida has 3.) Irma's oldest child is about 12 years old and I'm uncertain about Vida's oldest child, but he was born around 2001 or 2002. They started working in Spain about 3 or 4 years ago and as a sacrifice, they had to leave their children behind, leaving the children with their widowed grandmother.

Just telling my mom about the expereinces of pinays working overseas, I began to worry a bit of my cousins. My mom told me that they both are doing fine and because they are working in Spain and that the working conditions are much better compared to Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Kingdom. I also began to worry about my younger nephews and nieces too, after reflecting on the article from Global Woman, but knowing the family values that my mother's side had been instilled, I believe that they should be doing fine emotionally because they have a very loving grandmother.