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Saturday, April 22, 2006
Church group helps OFWs
Seeing the need to better prepare overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) before they leave the country, a church-based group has launched a program that aims to help the workers and their families cope with the separation.
Tess Tejero, executive director Friends of Pedro Foundation Inc., said Sun.Star Cebu’s recent report on the exodus of more OFWs, as per records of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration-Visayas, strengthened the group’s resolve to pursue the program and to search for partners to help many others.
Tejero said national figures show that 73 percent of the OFWs who left last year are females.
“There are so many homes without mothers,” she said.
The foundation also agrees with the International Labor Organization’s recommendation for the strengthening of pre-departure orientations to workers who will leave the country.
In September last year, the group launched the Integrated Family Relations Enhancement Program (Ifrep) and held a series of seminars for workers who dream of working abroad and their families.
Positive feedback
Close to 100 workers and their families benefited from the program, which also got a positive feedback from Bishop Precioso Cantillas, head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant Peoples.
“We just saw the need. We are not hitting even the tip of the iceberg. There’s really a great need (among the workers),” said Fr. Carmelo Diola, the foun-dation’s spiritual adviser.
Tejero said the program includes strengthening family ties to prevent broken homes.
They impressed on the workers and their families the importance of communication and improve their capability to use technology, like the Internet and Voice-Over Internet Protocol, to keep in touch.
Tejero said they also remind the families to value the OFW and to be sensitive to his needs.
“Dili lang mangayo ug kwarta. Many OFWs lament that their families only call to ask for money,” she revealed.
The group also expressed concern that while husbands or wives leave the country to support their families, many of them end up being separated.
“It’s really ironic,” Tejero said.
The group is scheduled to talk to Canillas next week to discuss ways to bring the program to other provinces and eventually, to the whole country.
Although they haved partners, like the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc., which showed willingness to support the program, Tejero said they hope more groups will come out and share their vision of helping OFWs and their families. (CYR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 22, 2006 issue)
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