Recently, a netizen named Jan Marvin Frias shared his experience working in a grocery store in Hsinchu, Taiwan, that made him fully understand the sacrifices of an Overseas Filipino Worker.
On Facebook, he wrote a lengthy post narrating his one day experience as a stock keeper/‘kargador’.
Jan Marvin is currently studying at a University in Taiwan, where he receives a full scholarship. He also mentioned that he receives enough allowance to support his daily needs and buy other personal stuff that he wants.
According to him, he was a child of a former OFW and before, he did not really understand the difficulty of being separated from his family and living abroad. Not until a friend offered him a part-time job while he was studying in Taiwan.
He got so curious about the job after learning that he will earn 700 TWD or equivalent to PHP 1,200 for just five hours a day working as a ‘kargador’.
Considering that the part-time work he’ll be doing in Taiwan is a blue collar job or a job that requires physical work, rather than in offices, he can’t help but compare the previous job he had in the Philippines. Jan Marvin used to work as an engineer, but the salary he receives is lower than this offer.
To further explain the salary difference, he included a sample computation if he is going to work around 10 hours per day, 20 days a month, he can earn a total of PHP 50,000/month. He now understands why many Filipinos were forced to leave their families and work in a foreign country, because of the chance to earn double or even more.
But although the pay is better here, the work is not that easy. In fact, they have to adjust to a different culture, language and many more. Not to mention the loneliness of being away from their family that they often have to deal with.
Jan Marvin said in his post that he wishes that the family of these OFWs would see the pain they were experiencing just to provide the needs of their loved ones in the Philippines.
He ended his post saying that he hopes OFW’s family and relatives would better understand their sacrifices:
“Sa mga naiwang husband/wife sa Pinas, wag naman pong gawing pagkakataon para mambabae/manlalaki. Yung mga pinag aaral, mag aral ng mabuti at magtapos. Yung mga pinapadalhan tapos nagbibisyo at naglulustay, isip-isip naman po.”
source: kami