1
00:00:14,627 --> 00:00:17,537
We were 95 women.

2
00:00:18,037 --> 00:00:21,327
They told us that we were
the first Filipino community

3
00:00:21,577 --> 00:00:24,417
who came to Romania
to work as seamstresses.

4
00:00:25,627 --> 00:00:30,177
The company we worked for
was MONDOSTAR, a garment factory.

5
00:00:31,497 --> 00:00:35,327
We had a contract for a minimum
period of 2 years.

6
00:00:36,607 --> 00:00:40,385
On April 2008 we arrived
in Sibiu, Romania.

7
00:00:40,965 --> 00:00:45,965
Just 5 months later in October
we flew back to Manila.

8
00:00:47,955 --> 00:00:52,340
This is our story.

9
00:01:15,093 --> 00:01:23,093
Halfway around the world

10
00:01:30,093 --> 00:01:35,593
Taytay
Manila, Philippines

11
00:02:23,493 --> 00:02:27,223
I worked in Malaysia
for 2 years,

12
00:02:27,693 --> 00:02:30,293
I worked in Hong Kong
for 6 and a half years,

13
00:02:30,793 --> 00:02:33,743
I worked in Romania
for 5 months.

14
00:02:56,991 --> 00:02:59,256
I am an OFW
(Overseas Filipino Worker).

15
00:02:59,626 --> 00:03:03,541
I worked in Malaysia and Hong Kong
as a domestic helper.

16
00:03:04,036 --> 00:03:07,516
When I heard of the agency
EASTWIND INTERNATIONAL,

17
00:03:07,826 --> 00:03:10,101
that was hiring workers for Sibiu, Romania,

18
00:03:10,305 --> 00:03:14,201
I wasn’t focused primarily on the salary,
or on the amount of the placement fee.

19
00:03:14,250 --> 00:03:18,201
I only thought:
I‘ll go to Europe!

20
00:03:21,005 --> 00:03:25,061
I was working as a seamstress
for the first time in a foreign country.

21
00:03:25,301 --> 00:03:28,801
I could not work
as a domestic helper any more,

22
00:03:29,121 --> 00:03:33,421
because in Hong Kong, they only accept
women younger than 38 years old.

23
00:03:34,085 --> 00:03:36,971
I’m now 50 years old.

24
00:03:54,234 --> 00:03:58,734
9 million people from
the Philippines work abroad.

25
00:03:58,934 --> 00:04:02,434
That is 10 percent
of the population.

26
00:04:02,774 --> 00:04:08,544
They are called:
Overseas Filipino Workers or OFWs.