I am Mia, a beautiful woman with a dream in life. When I was a child, I wanted to be a flight attendant because I wanted to be able to fly on a plane. But all that was just a dream because my parents couldn’t afford to send me to school because we were poor. My father was just a tricycle driver and my mother sold food. I helped my mother sell her native foods, sometimes we would reach the evening after our sell native food ran out. Sometimes I felt sorry for my mother because I saw that she was struggling but she was able to do it for our family.
One day while we were selling our native foods, a woman came up to me and asked me if I wanted to work abroad as a domestic helper. She said that I just needed to process my passport and pay a placement fee 40,000.00 to their agency. I was happy because even though I didn’t fulfill my dream of becoming a flight attendant, at least I could Fly on a plane. I told my mother about my plan to go abroad, but she didn’t want to because it was far away and we didn’t have any money. I begged my mother to let me go abroad because what I was doing was also for us so that I could give them a good life. So that she wouldn’t have to sell food anymore and the salary abroad was big, I could easily save money there. She said that she and my father would talk about it if they agreed.
That night, my father came home and I heard that he and mom were talking about the plan to go abroad. At first, dad didn’t want to because it was far away and we didn’t have money for the placement fee but I heard from mom that she would let me go because it was for the good of our family. My parents borrowed money from their friends and our relatives so I could pay for my placement fee and they didn’t disappoint, someone even gave them a loan.
The next day, I immediately went to the agency where I was going to apply. I gave the money for the placement fee and they said they would shoulder my passport. I submitted my requirements and they told me that I would be able to leave Macau in two weeks, that I would just have to wait for their call. Two weeks later but no one called me so I decided to go to the agency. When I got there, there were a lot of people outside and they were all angry and the agency was already closed. That’s when I found out that the agency was an illegal recruiter and they had taken our money. I cried a lot at that time because how was I going to pay the money we owed. When I got home, I told my parents the bad news. They were also depressed because they said why did I dream of going abroad, now how are we going to pay the money my parents owed me.
I went out to Manila and took a chance to find a job. Good thing because I was hired as a saleslady at the mall because I had graduated from high school. I lived alone, I get a boarding house and I sent my monthly salary to my parents to gradually pay off our debt. A few months ago, I became a regular worker, so I continued to send money to the province until I finished paying my bills. Even though life is difficult, I am still grateful because at least we are able to survive our problems. I just blame the agency that cheated me.
