I’m Nena, a College student at a University. We are poor but my parents pushed me through my studies, my mother is a laundress and my father is a farmer. Even though we are poor, we are happy in life, sometimes we are short in budget but we can survive. I am hard worked my studies to help with household expenses. I combined my studies with working student as a service crew at a fast food chain. My situation is not easy because of fatigue and staying up late everyday but I don’t blame it, I just want to help my parents.
Until a big problem came to our family, my father had an accident in the field. He fell from a coconut tree and broke his hip. Since then, my father could no longer work, so my mother was the only one who work for us. Our situation was not easy because there was not always someone to do my mother’s laundry. Until one day, someone offered my mother a job going abroad, as a domestic helper in Thailand. At first, my mother was hesitant because she had no experience in going abroad, but later she decided to apply.
My mother not wasted a time in telling may father that she would be working abroad, even though my father didn’t want to she didn’t do anything because my mother’s decision was already made. A few weeks later, my mother flew to another country. Every month, she sent us money and balik-bayan boxes. We treated may father and his condition improved and I continued my studies. I also stopped being a service crew because my mother gave me a big allowance. So I can bought all sort of fancy things like shoes, clothes and bags. so my classmates would inevitably envy me. I would brag to them that my mother was abroad so I had a lot of money. But even though I was wasteful with money, I studied hard.
Until I finished my college and I told my mom that I wanted to go Thailand to work there. At first, my mom didn’t want me to go her because even if you graduated from college in the Philippines, when you get to Thailand, you can’t use your degree because the job you’ll get there is a house cleaner. But because I was determined to go to mom, I didn’t let her to stop me. When I got there, I was amazed by the place because there so many beautiful views. Mom took me on a tour and fed me at a delicious restaurant.
The next morning, my mom told me to join her in cleaning her employer’s condos because the hourly rate for the job was five houses for a day that my mom cleaned. When I went to work with my mom, I saw how hard her job was, cleaning the whole house, doing laundry, ironing, and cleaning the toilet. I used to feel sorry for my mother, that’s when I realized that while I was wasting her money, she was working hard. I used to eat delicious food at restaurants in the Philippines while my mother only had two pieces of bread and water only. I cried when I saw her situation, that’s when I told myself that my mother is working a lot so that I can finished my studies. I had to repay her sacrifice for me, I wanted to give her a good life.
A few months passed during my stay in Thailand, I applied as a teller at a bank and good thing I was accepted immediately. My salary as a teller is big but because my work is in the afternoon, so in the morning I became an insurance agent at mall.
After two years, I stopped working and sent my mom back to the Philippines to be with my father. I told her that I would take care of everything. I wanted to give back to my parents the sacrifice they made why I am today.
My mother went back to the Philippines to be with my father. I sent them money every month, and I set up a business for my mother so that she would have something to do even when she was at home. Now our life is good. I have my own family and we live here in Thailand with my family.
