JEDDAH, 29 June 2003 — Dr. Ramon Moreno has been seeing more and more OFWs since he first came here in October 2002. In the month of May alone, he saw more than 100 patients. This does not include those OFWs he sees in visits to people’s housing and during medical missions and emergency cases brought to his clinic.

Fatima Abobakar, a social worker, has been counseling distressed OFWs, mostly women, sheltered at the Philippine Consulate. Apart from helping some of these women find a second job, Abobakar has been approached to take care of two abandoned Filipino children! But these free services will soon come to an end.

According to Moreno and Abobakar, they will be recalled to the Philippines because of a lack of funds. Abobakar is scheduled to leave in August and Moreno will go home in October. They will be leaving behind a large number of OFWs, specifically the distressed workers who need both medical and psychological assistance.

Moreno and Abobakar are part of a pilot government project officially called the “Overseas Comprehensive Social Service Package for OFWs.” Their purpose is to provide basic medical and counseling services to OFWs. Under this project, doctors and social workers have been sent to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea.

Asked to describe her duties, Abobakar told Arab News: “I really feel that there is a real need for a social worker and a doctor to be assigned to the (foreign) post. As social workers, we give more importance to feelings, the feelings of people. For example, a distressed OFW who has had a traumatic experience may not be able to express her feelings. My role as a social worker is to help her to tell me her problems.”

Counseling is just one of the many roles Abobakar performs for OFWs. At times she acts as their negotiator.

“I not only counsel OFWs, I also deal with employers who want to hire OFWs who can be re-employed. I assess, interview, recommend and match the qualifications of women with employers. I am the one who looks after the rights of these women. For example, I emphasize to employers that their domestic help must have at least one day off every 15 days. And the employees must visit the consulate for feedback,” Abobakar told Arab News. She told of the story of a domestic helper who was picked up at the airport by men sent by her employer.

After talking to her employer, she was brought to a house and shown her room. She did not feel comfortable so she began to look around. She discovered some blood stains in the room and a picture of a dead woman. Very frightened and being a newcomer to the Kingdom, she escaped and finally found refuge in the consulate. After counseling the woman, Abobakar was able to find another employer who was willing to employ her as a cleaner in a clinic. But that is the easy part. Abobakar said money is needed to change the OFW’s classification from domestic helper to killed worker.

Dr. Moreno, on the other hand, said that his most challenging case was a pregnant OFW who had cancer. Because she was pregnant, she couldn’t be given radiation treatment. Moreno examined her and brought her to the hospital. “Many OFWs or associations feel the need of a doctor,” he said. He added that most of those who have taken advantage of his presence are the distressed or those not covered by health insurance; he, however, is ready to help everyone who comes for medical consultation.

Moreno laments that he has been unable to prescribe drugs. He suggested that if the program were extended, there should be an agreement between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia — and other countries — so that “the prescriptions I write will be honored by a pharmacy.” He also pointed out that the budget for medicines did not always arrive on time. “It comes but it’s usually late. Right now, we need to buy medicine but there is no budget for it.”

Distressed OFWs whom the Arab News interviewed felt sad to hear of the pullout of their doctor and social worker.

“We truly need the help of Ma’am Fatima and Dr. Moreno. First of all, we can always refer to her with our problems. With them around, we always have someone to go to when we don’t feel okay. It they are not around, we don’t know where to go. When the sun sets, we are usually left on our own,” Dulce Concordia said in Filipino.

Erlinda Javier, another distressed OFW, said: “If Dr. Moreno and Ma’am Fatima go, we will be neglected. We can always tell our problems to Ma’am Fatima because she is a woman like us.” Another woman, who asked not to be named, said there was no substitute for having a social worker because the regular case officers had a different way of dealing with their cases. Indeed, the importance of a doctor and a social worker in foreign posts cannot be overemphasized. Even the labor office at the consulate acknowledges the need for them.

According to Labor Attaché Nasser Munder, the feedback from OFWs regarding the doctor and social worker was good. “OFWs feel they have someone to confide in when they have problems,” he said. Munder has asked Dr. Moreno and Mrs. Abobakar to provide his office their activity report, which he intends to forward to the Department of Labor and Employment in Manila for submission to the Senate Finance Committee. “We will request an extension of their services,” he told Arab News. If budget is the problem, Dr. Moreno offered a suggestion.

“Why not assign one physician to Saudi Arabia and let him travel to different places and visit OFWs? He may not be able to deal with emergencies but since his visits would be scheduled, the OFWs and their dependents who need his services would be ready to meet him.”