RIYADH, 24 Sept. – "Charity, it is said, is not only the greatest of all virtues; it is the scope of all God’s commands. Only great souls know the grandeur there is in charity," so goes the saying which summarizes the objective of the activity held at the Philippine Embassy on Thursday to "recognize" the initiatives of charitable Filipino groups and individuals in Riyadh.

Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla and Labor Attaché Jainal Rasul, Jr. led other embassy officials and staff of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in appreciating the "volunteerism" of 17 Filipino community groups and individuals who have been consistently helping their fellowmen by giving basic necessities to stranded workers housed at Bahay Kalinga.

Dubbed Hatid Tulong, which literally means "bring a help", the program was launched to lend (non-monetary) support and assistance to distressed OFWs, male and female alike.

Rasul introduced a similar program in the eastern province on June 28, just before his transfer to the POLO office in Riyadh.

The concept of the program is to provide help to OFWs in their lonely and protracted battle against their employers. It is also intended to offer them whatever provisions may come in the way while their repatriation are being processed.

Honored during the event were the Hatid Tulong givers, who were given certificates of appreciation. The list includes the Calabarzon, Empowerment Program (Pilipino para sa Kapwa Pilipino), Pinoy Supermarket, Mike Bolos, Alexander Sanchez, Bicol Saro nin Riyadh, Pagkakaunawaan at Pagkakaisa ng mga Organisasyon (Puno), Filipino Nars Atbp sa Saudi Arabia (NARS), Alpha Phi Omega Riyadh Alumni Association (APORAA), Hospital Employees Alliance Towards Health (Health), Dr. Clemencia Montecillo, Movement to Help Eradicate Rape and other female abuses (Mother), The Thursday Group, Cezar Soriaga, Paglingap, Joel Magpantay, and Ka Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency (Kasama).

Once-a-week free meal

Organized two years ago by a group of Filipino married pairs, the Thursday Group, has been providing packed lunch to Pinoy distressed workers of Bahay-Kalinga. The group is composed of Filipino husband and wife teams grouped into "households" composed of at least 5 couples.

The "households" are alternately assigned to bring food to Bahay Kalinga every Thursday for the distressed workers. They’ve been doing it from the day the group was organized. The group now has at least 600 couple-members, most of whom are hospital workers.

"We give not only packed lunch but also toiletries, medicines, baby food, milk and pampers," said Rolly Arriola, together with his wife, who happened to be the assigned pair on Thursday to deliver the pack-lunch to the Bahay Kalinga, hence their presence in the embassy to accept the certificate in behalf of their group. "Though we are pleased about such recognition from the embassy, we still want to maintain a low-profile in providing assistance to our distressed kababayan," said one of the recipients who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Most of the recipients never expected to receive such appreciation from the embassy.

"I came from a poor family. That’s why I can relate to the sufferings of others who are in pain," Mike Bolos, said in his message, adding that "at the end of each day, I always ask myself, what have I done to help my fellowmen?"

The support has taken various forms, from counseling to conciliation, from advocacy to welfare and other assistance.

One-way ticket

A group of stranded workers rendered a song number during the program to the tune of a Rey Valera song, "Kay saklap ng buhay stranded/ang daigdig ay walang kabuhay-buhay/ang nais ay makauwi ng lang/isang ticket, isang exit, okey na yan."

Delma Marquez, who put new lyrics to the song, was thankful to all the support that the Hatid Tulong givers are providing them. She was also hopeful that she would soon return home.

Marquez, a native of Pangasinan, a province in the northern Philippines, along with a fellow Filipino beautician, escaped from their employer in May and sought refuge at Bahay Kalinga.

"We were kept like prisoners in our accommodation and deprived of food for three to four days. It’s only here in the center that I gained back my regular weight," she said, jokingly showing her figure. She can now smile even as she recalls her ordeal.

"It’s here at Bahay Kalinga that I discovered the benevolence of our kababayan which cut across religious boundaries. Filipino Christians and Muslims alike, help each other. These volunteers deserve such recognition," observed a distressed female worker from Zamboanga in the southern Philippines.

The mechanics

As written in its concept paper, unlike the existing Distressed Workers Fund, the Hatid Tulong is purely non-monetary in nature. This means any support it gives its recipient will not be in the form of money or cash.

While money contribution may be given, the same may only be accepted if it is intended to be donated in some other kind. As such, contributions may take the form of food provisions, medicines, medical and dental services, toiletries, used clothes and shoes, plane tickets for emergency repatriation cases, and such other basic needs of our distressed workers.

Thus, the program seeks to pool in all material and non-monetary contributions and assistance from various individuals and groups, and farm them out to qualified recipients or workers in need.