This is the line that I will never forget from the KatDen movie, Hello, Love, Goodbye by Cathy Molina simply because it is so real for an Overseas Filipino Worker like me.
Yes, I am one of the millions of young professionals who choose to leave the Philippines in the hope of a better life abroad. I am a permanent public school teacher before I went here in Canada.
Wanting more would always be a part of me as a foreign worker in this land. When we landed here, I started to feel a "downgrade" in my professional life. It seems that applying for a job would be very hard even if you have good credentials written in your resume. My diploma, my experiences, seems nothing here. Wala lang, walang silbi. Starting a life here abroad was very hard. You will never know if you can ever regain the "self-confidence" that you have before.
Lucky I am, after applying in all kind of jobs (cashier, housekeeper, gen.worker, etc.) I landed on a job related to teaching. Yes, by title, I am an Early Childhood Educator in a daycare, "teacher" as my students call me. But in reality, only 20% of the job is teaching, and 80% is merely taking good care of the kids while their parents are working (tagabantay ng bata, taga-alaga) whatever you want to call it. I am already working 2 weeks in my job when I realized that I was not in school but in a childcare facility. It's a decent job, yes, I am earning more than I can earn as a teacher in the Philippines but I WANT MORE!
Pride. No. I learned to forget my pride as I started my life here. It is more about my "DREAM" like what Joy let me see in the movie. We always have this dream that pushing us to want more.
I want more, I want to be more. I know every immigrant and OFW wanted that. But how? As early as now (as of writing, I am here in Canada for only four months) I learned that I can be "more" in this land if I will study (again!). That is the only way that I can be more. But again how? Cost of leaving here is so high and I can't afford to lose my job. So, paano pa ako mag-aaral? How can I be more now? That is the sad reality that we (OFW) are facing. We can be more if we go to schooling but we can't afford to lose our job to support ourselves here and our family in the Philippines. Paano na ang mga "Joy" sa bawat isa sa amin.
I want to be more is chasing a dream while you losing hope as you already ate your pride in the process.
I am hoping that my life here would end like a movie, happy ending.
"I want more, I want to be more" is the line that every person living on a foreign land can relate with.
Lucky I am, I know God, and I know that He will help me to have "more" in this life.
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