The SUN HK : OFWs stranded in HK by pandemic reunite with family after 4 long years

By Danilo A. Reyes

Rowena is now home with her three children she did not see for 4 years

Years of separation from their family members due to the pandemic have ended for some overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong who finally managed to go back home recently to spend the Christmas season there.

Among them was Rowena Macasinag, who finally made it home on Dec. 22, after four long years of being separated from her three children who are now aged 7, 16, and 21.

Before her flight home, Rowena made sure she had chocolate bars for her children.

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“Nakakalungkot kasi hindi tayo nakakauwi. Iniisip natin na hindi natin makapiling mga anak natin (It feels lonely because we could not go home. We long to be with our children), said Rowena, as she recalled how it felt being away for four years.

Rowena left her hometown in Bicol in September 2018 to work for the first time in Hong Kong and has been stuck here since.

Like many OFWs, Rowena had to leave to work abroad, first in Saudi Arabia as a domestic worker for two years, then Hong Kong. She is separated and considers herself a “single mother” and breadwinner of her three children.

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“Hindi kami nagkaintindihan (We had a misunderstanding),” was Rowena’s short reply as she burst into tears when asked about her husband.

But her mood drastically changed, this time with a sense of excitement, when asked what was the first thing she would do once she saw her children again, after four years of separation.

“Siyempre very excited ako makita yung mga anak ko. Yun yung priority ko talaga. Yayakapin ko sila (Of course, I’m very excited to see my children. It is my priority. I will hug them,” she said.

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Rowena, whose contract was terminated by her former employer simply for asking to go home, did not have good memories of that time. But she never lost hope that she would get a new and better employer, saying she had a good record and did no wrong.

Lorraine (front) is joined in chat by younger sister Divina

For returning OFWs who do not have children, what they long to do once they are at home is just to sleep and rest.

In a zoom interview from her hometown in Iloilo province on Dec. 26, Lorraine, 41, said: “Gusto ko lang matulog, magpahinga, kasi sa pagod ng trabaho sa Hong Kong (I just want to sleep, to take a rest, because my work in Hong Kong is very exhausting.”

While her work has been physically tiring, Lorraine has had no problems with her employer, who renewed their employment contract for the third time before her flight on Dec. 16.

Lorraine was also given a hefty salary increase. From the previous minimum wage of $4,520 her pay was raised to $6,500, reflecting the good relationship she has with her employers and her ward.

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This came in handy as Lorraine has taken over her 65-year-old parent’s responsibility of sending her sibling, Divina, to college.

But this is not the case with three of Lorraine’s domestic-helper friends.

Two of them, both old-timers, and another who is a newcomer, did not last long in their jobs. They all had their contracts terminated prematurely, saying they failed to get along with their employers.