“It’s very hard to be away from him,” Iris Tuares Pahilga said as she stared at the photos of her 10-year-old son on her phone. “But I talk to him every day.”
The 36-year-old came to Singapore in 2016 to work as a domestic helper and her situation is common. In search of a better job and income to take care of her family, the Filipino made the tough decision to work in a foreign country.
Before Singapore, she spent just over a year as a foreign domestic helper in Saudi Arabia. At that time, Pahilga’s only child, Aries, was around two years old – she left him in the care of her husband, who works as a contractor in the Philippines, and his sister.
She has now worked for seven years for the Tang-Ling family, caring for twins Scarlett and Sovereign since they were born in 2019.
Pahilga only returns to her hometown, Iloilo City in the Philippines, once a year and for about a month. Her home leave is precious as it’s the only time she gets to see and interact with her family face-to-face.
THE CHALLENGES OF BEING AWAY