A Filipino beautician reflects on the importance of family and community in times of crisis

English transcript | نسخة عربية

Nationality: Filipino
Occupation: Salon worker
Date of interview: 05 September 2020
Language of interview: English

Margie is a single mother from the Philippines who came to Kuwait 17 years ago to be able to support her three children back home-- now in their late teens and early twenties. 

For 12 years she has been working for a salon, doing at-home services. It is not easy work, because many of the treatments can take hours, and require contact with a lot of chemicals. Her friend doing the same work ended up paralyzed, and Margie worries. What if she gets injured and can’t support her family? She has cut back on some services she offers to protect her health. She had gone home in November 2019 for a long visit, which used up most of her savings, but she wasn’t worried, as she expected to be working again in January.  However, while she was still there, the Filipino government announced a total deployment ban on overseas workers returning to Kuwait because of the death of domestic worker Jeanelyn Villavende, and Margie had to buy a new ticket, paying an additional 400KD, to try to get back before it came into effect. Then her flight was delayed because of a volcano eruption, and Margie and all of her fellow passengers were terrified that they wouldn’t make it out in time. When her flight finally took off, she was so relieved that she scheduled a home appointment for that same day, to make up for the money she lost. 

Just when she had gotten back on her feet, the Corona outbreak stopped her work. She had no money to send her children, plus she had to pay rent for four months, without salary. Her landlord did not give her and her flatmates any discount, and she felt like she just wasn’t going to make it. She was deeply depressed and used to think about “jumping” but her friend would tell her, “if you jump you will just break your bones and what will happen to your family?”. 

Her volunteer work saved her. A Filipino community group was distributing food and needed volunteers in locked down neighborhoods to assist them. As she was in Mahboula, they asked her to store the food boxes and arrange delivery within the area to the vulnerable people on their list. As she distributed the food boxes, she met people who hadn’t eaten in days, living in dire conditions. She began to try to encourage others, to help them through this difficult time, and she felt grateful to have food to eat, and good friends. She wanted to give the others hope.  She told them to pray, assuring them that they would get through this time. 

Margie worried about her son’s last tuition payment, but, unbelievably, her friends all contributed so that he could finish school. On her daily calls with her children, she would force herself to smile and laugh, although she cried every single night from worry. She didn’t want them to feel her despair or stress. Her children started to reassure her, telling her “‘Mama are you okay there? [...] Just be careful to yourself, no need to go outside because of virus [...] because you are alone there. Don't worry regarding us [...] Mama you want money? We will send money for you’. Then I cried. Why? Because I'm thinking as I am abroad, I am the one who will send to them.”

Her children had all started working online, earning some income without telling their mother. She was so grateful - she had seen other overseas workers being ignored by their families when they weren’t able to send them money. Instead, she became even closer to her children, who  checked on her regularly and wanted to take care of her. Margie says that she has no regrets about this time in lockdown -- even though she is going to have to wait two more years before she is able to pay off her debts and go back home -- what she learned from the experience is worth it. Now she knows, for the first time with certainty, that her children love her for herself, not because of the money she sends, and she feels blessed. 

In the clip above, Margie tells us about some of the darker moments she faced whilst in lockdown, and how they then led her to volunteer her time as a counselor.

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