Extended familes can endure

By Pinky Choudhury

CHILDREN of Filipinos working abroad constantly pray for the safety of their parents.

“Dear Lord, please protect my father so he can come home and we can again cook,” prayed Ziltjain Surigao, 12, at a recent forum at the University of the Philippines.

The young girl who is set to start high school in Quezon City, dreams of becoming a pastry chef like her father.

“Dad, I thank you for taking care of me and for providing for my needs,” she said in a letter read during the forum titled: The Difference Parental Migration Makes: Health and Well-Being Impacts on Left-Behind Children.

Surigao was joined by two sons and three daughters of other migrants. The six are under the care of the Pastoral Care for Migrants and their Families Ministry of Novaliches diocese, run by Scalabrinian Sister Eva Ocemo.

The children were also asked to give their views on a study titled: Child Health and Migrant Parents in Southeast Asia.

Conducted between 2008 and 2010, the study looked at the situation of children of migrant workers under 12 years old in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Full story in ucanews.com