By Rex Catubig   

 

WHEN Christina was relocated from Riyadh and reassigned in the remote township of Bisha, her life as an OFW changed forever.

She was supposed to work for a family of 6, but she counted 11 –including a 7-month old baby.

Everything seemed normal– until the third month when things took a turn for the worse.

The kindly father of 52 would casually greet Christina “good morning” as polite Saudi Arabian gentlemen are wont to. But this bothered the dumpy 47 year old wife. Increasingly, she became jealous and irritated with her.

Once, Christina asked the eldest son to buy her snacks and personal necessities with the money she saved from the airport allowance given her much earlier. When the wife found this out, she concluded her husband gave her the money. No doubt they were lovers.

Then, when Christina’s salary was delayed, she thought it fair to stop doing her chores out of frustration. This infuriated the wife more. And sensing she might report them with false accusations, the wife locked up Christina in her room.

For 10 days, Christina was gripped by fear. She was deprived of food and cut from the internet. In her direst moment, she tried to slash her wrist—but she couldn’t stop thinking of her family. When she got weaker, she drank the bathroom water to stave off hunger. If it was any consolation, her angel wards would slip her a bar of chocolate, but she craved for rice.

With hunger, stress, and helplessness strangling the life of her, she wasted away and her plump body became very thin.

Then came a break on the 5^th  day, when a friend called by chance. She recounted her ordeal and asked to buy her data. But the help she expected was slow in coming and she grew impatient. So she posted her dilemma on FB.

Her post caught the eye of a Jayceeken chat mate. He hooked her up with Councilor Jigs Seen. This was answered prayer, and she pleaded with him to bail her out of her misery. Without the least hesitation, the good Samaritan banged on the door of the local OWWA to expedite her rescue and return to the country.

Jigs Seen had become the unlikely silent knight in camouflage armor.

On March 22, Jigs Seen’s driver fetched Christina at the Manila International Airport. By nighttime, she was back in Sitio Bagong Barrio, happily reunited with her family.

Her soul breaking journey in the nightmarish world of the OFW is over for now.

But once she recovers from her trauma, Christina plans to remain a soldier of fortune, closer home, in Asia, to face the challenges of making both ends meet.

When shall Christinas stop risking their lives?

(To be continued next in week’s issue)

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