Modern Heroes

            Overseas Filipino Workers or OFWs, our modern heroes. Their title as modern heroes can’t be denied because it is what they really are. They raise the economy of our country and in their own way, help decrease the levels of poor people through their own families, but little did we know, they suffer a lot abroad.

            Not because they stay in a far modernized country means they live lavishly. What they earn can’t be obtained just by staying in a country but they work hard for it and endure all the pain and the homesickness. From common conversations with OFWs, they said that homesickness is their greatest foe. To support their families is the only thing that makes them bear the feeling of being away. They endure the sad thoughts of what will happen to the family they left. Not all cases of working abroad go down to success, some results to abuse by the foreign employer- whether physically, financially or emotionally and worse, broken families. Some were badly treated by the people in that foreign country. Setting aside the compliment that Filipinos are hardworking and industrious, most of the foreigners think of our OFWs as low-lying people and inferior to them. We must see all the struggles, the hardships and the pain they experience for the sake of supporting their families left in their hometown.

            For me, our OFWs are truly the heroes of our modern times. But, we couldn’t let more OFWs sacrifice their lives abroad. Our government doesn’t provide sufficient efforts to help our modern heroes. And also, the number of skilled workers in our country is badly decreasing because they go abroad to earn more and because of this, our country will suffer 'brain drain'. According to http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brain_drain.asp, brain drain is “A slang term for a significant emigration of educated or talented individuals. A brain drain can result from turmoil within a nation, from there being better professional opportunities in other countries or from people seeking a better standard of living.” Yes, OFWs may help raise our economy in a way but don’t you think that the working for the rise of our country is better?