Our Stories
Cel Ardales’ Story: ‘Done Everything Wrong, Time to Set All Things Right’
Augustus T. Añonuevo
Araceli Ardales, 39 years old, hailed from North Cotobato, the Philippines. After her marriage to Ryan Ardales, she and her family moved to Bicol. In 2013, Cel, as Araceli is fondly called, went to Singapore to work as a domestic worker. She dreamt of building a house for her family and securing their son’s education. Admittedly, she also wanted to take time off from a not-so-good relationship then with her husband.
After ten years of working abroad, Cel felt that she had not achieved much as an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) and was clueless on what she had to do to turn things around for the better. She said: “Narealize ko na ang tagal ko na pala dito sa Singapore at ang lahat ng desisyon ko sa buhay, sa pamilya, sa pagmamanage ko ng pera ay mali.” (I realized that I have been here in Singapore for a long time and it seemed that all my decisions with regards to managing my finances and handling my family relations were all wrong.)
Overcoming Indebtedness and Challenges of Long-Distance Relationship
Augustus T. Añonuevo
Jhocelyn Onceno, a 39-year old wife of an Overseas Filipino worker (OFW) lives in Barotac Viejo, Iloilo in the Philippines with her five children. Her husband, Dionel, has been working as cow breeder in New Zealand for six years now. Prior to that, Dionel worked as a cow breeder also for six years in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Although Dionel earned a relatively higher income compared to other OFWs, it did not prevent the financial woes that he and Jhocelyn faced in 2020.
The year 2020 was difficult for the Onceno family particularly for Jho, as Jhocelyn is fondly called, to the point where she contemplated suicide because she felt that she could no longer bear the problems that she was facing then. She was all alone in taking care of her five children, one of which, was a newborn baby, and in attending to their family’s financial concerns.
‘Saying No to Unnecessary Things’: Key to A Migrant Worker’s Astute Financial Management
Augustus T. Añonuevo
Siti Nur Fadilah, 39 years of age, married to a fellow Indonesian national with two children, lives and works as a domestic helper in Kuala Lumpur. In 2003, Siti at a young age of 14 years left Jakarta, Indonesia to work in Malaysia. She went against the wishes of her mother and grandmother who wanted her to pursue Islamic studies and went with her friends to live and work in Malaysia.
Siti’s early years as a migrant were difficult, to say the least. Victimized by illegal recruitment, Siti endured hard work, measly play and at times work without pay and had to move from one employer to another for seven years. In 2010, Siti after running away from her previous employer, finally found a good employer and since then gained a working permit in Malaysia. Later, after her first marriage, she met her current husband and continuously seek a better life for her family in Malaysia.
Migrants Teaching and Mentoring Fellow Migrants
Persatuan Pekerja Rumah Tangga Indonesia Migran (Pertimig), an organization of Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia and Pinoy Worldwide Initiative for Investment Savings and Entrepreneurship (Pinoy WISE), an organization of Filipino domestic workers in Singapore, stand out among many migrant organizations in the ASEAN as exemplary advocates of financial literacy and sustainable reintegration for migrant women workers. Pertimig and Pinoy WISE were strong partners of ILO in the rollout of Reintegration and Financial Planning trainings among Indonesian and Filipino migrant women workers in Singapore and Malaysia.
Many of the leaders and members of Pertimig and Pinoy WISE were trained as trainers by Atikha, an NGO based in the Philippines, through the Safe and Fair Project: Realizing Women Migrant Workers’ Rights and Opportunities in ASEAN Region Programme, with funding from the European Union, led by the ILO with UN Women in collaboration with UNODC. After the training of trainers conducted by Atikha in 2021, Pertimig and Pinoy WISE conducted Reintegration and Financial Planning trainings among their fellow migrant domestic workers in 2022.
