OFW BANK Incubator: An Emotional Blog From A Son Whose Dad Is An OFW

I am posting here an exact copy of an emotional blog from a son whose Dad is an OFW who works in Libya, and I have also posted my 1 kilometer comment, long as it is but please read on because it might also help you guide your kids.

The name of the blogger-child is Jeffrey Francis who is very appreciative of what his Dad is doing for their sake, and he has this big question: "How can we repay them for their hard work?". I have tried to give him my thoughts below, through this article. Quoting now from Jeffrey Francis' blog:

"Parents......Our Real Inspiration

It was July 5 at 7:30 in the evening we go to the airport.....Our father will go back to Libya for another one year contract. All of us were sad because we will be missing him again. Almost everyday we go to church to ask God for his safe flight and for his good health......Thanks God because of internet we survived.....We cried but we have to sacrifice because it is for our own good, especially for us, his children, in order for us to finish our studies....

Parents......They serve as the life and inspiration of the children like us, because they are the one who gives us tender love and care.. Not only that but they also give us enough protection. They comforts, gives advice and help us in times of problems and troubles. When you wake up in the morning the first person you can see is your parents... Your mother cooking your breakfast, and your father preparing his self for his work. How thankful we are in their industriousness,but how we can repay them for those hardworks? Like us in this kind of age we have our own simple and little way on how we can thank them. They pursue all they can, for us to achieve our dreams.. Even though it's hard for them to spend their whole time in their work, but still it's also for us to have a good and a beautiful future when we grow up. It's much harder to those children who have a parents who is working abroad, those persons are called OFW.... Like us our father is an OFW it's hard for us specially when he is about to leave us.... Our father, every time he come home here in the Philippines, my sister always cry,not of sadness but because of happiness because he will be with us in another 45 days.. They don't feel the presence of tiredness just for us to have a better life.... Even it's only few days to spend our whole time with him,we still appreciate it because it's also for us.

Few days After he will be coming back again....And we will spend our whole time together!!!!"

Posted by Jeffrey Francis

And this is my comment for Jeffrey Francis:

"How thankful we are in their industriousness, but how we can repay them for those hardworks?"

A nice and deep question esp. from a kid like you dear Jeffrey Francis. Just came across your blog through your Dad's link.

I can genuinely feel what you feel every time your Dad leaves to work abroad because I was once in that situation too. My father was a geodetic surveyor ("was" because he is with the Lord now) working for a big logging company here and he would come home on early Saturday evenings and would leave home early Sunday afternoons after attending Church and would ride his bike to take him back to the logging forests again. You are even lucky because you got 45 days with your Dad, while I only had a few hours.

I also know how your Dad feels every time he says goodbye and leave you for another year of absence because of the nature of his work. But he does it, painful and hard as it is for both of you, because he loves you and he wants to ensure a better future for you.

Given that situation, how can you repay your Dad? and your Mom? Let me share something from my heart:

My parents used to tell me since when I was a kid (I'm the eldest) that they would do their best "kahit na gagapang pa daw sila kung kinakailangan" to be able to give me a good education and they would support me all the way but until I reach 21 years old. Why 21 yrs old? Because engineering takes 5 years to finish.

Ngunit sabi nila, I should study and do my best to learn life because they would stop all the support right after my 21st birthday and from there I will have to live life by my own - meaning I had to find my own living to support myself and never expect for any centavo from my parents anymore because they would need to re-channel their resources to my other siblings doing school.

I do did my best in school and in life, all with the help of God who is alive in my heart. And my parents made good of their word too!

So the best way that you can repay your parents, if I may suggest, is to study hard and do the best that you can; never waste your time hanging out with some "friends" in the mall playing online games, or killing time somewhere and sharing dirty jokes or something; don't bother sticking it out with peers who do not help you become your best and who do not help you succeed in life.

And on top of that, learn how to handle money. Don't spend all your allowance, regardless of how small or big it is. Just remember that every time you buy something, say a sandwich for P10, you are making that store owner richer by another P10 every time and you are making yourself poorer by P10 every time you part with that money.

So how about reversing the trend? Make yourself the "store owner"! How? Well, try it this way: Prepare at least 2 sandwiches before leaving for school, just as tasty or even better than the one sold in the school cafe. You can have one for your snacks (that means you are no longer buying so you have already spared your P10 allowance as savings), and you can sell the other sandwich to your friend for P10 (just make sure na mas masarap kaysa canteen para mapabili mo siya).

So everyday, you saved your P10 allowance and earned another P10. Too small an amount for a kid whose Dad is an OFW! Yes, but actually no! Let me help you see what I see:

If everyday you get P20 more adding on to your pocket, that's P100 per week or P400 per month or P4,800 in a year! And with that amount you can already put up a mobile cart selling fried peanuts that can give you daily average net income of P150 - P300. You can hire one of your tito or neighbor who is out of a job to do the frying and selling of peanuts (anyway sa gabi lang yun, between 5:30p to around 9:30pm).

So while you are saving P10 and making another P10 daily, you will also be making another P150 daily from you fried peanuts business. That peanut business will give you P54,750 in a year! Who among your classmates can have that in a year? And remember, that P54,750 is already equivalent to another 10 more mobile peanut stand.

So you see, kahit nasa elementary or high school ka pa lang ngayon Jeffrey Francis, you can do it! Just imagine if you already have 11 mobile fried peanuts carts scattered in several places na madaming tao, the 11 mobile carts will give you roughly P602,250 net income every year! And you will become the boss of 11 people already.

Assuming hanggang 11 units lang ang gusto mo, but 11 units giving you a total of P602,250 each year, after 5 years you will already have something like P3,011,250. So assuming that you are 13 years old now in 1st year high school then you will be a millionaire (with P1.2M) at 15 years old or 3rd year high school. You will make your parents proud of you. And remember, success is contagious. You will never know how you will influence other kids to try putting up their own business too!

And I tell you Jeffrey Francis, pag natuwa sa iyo ang Dad mo baka bigyan ka niya ng reward. I mean I did that to my kids. Every new year's eve, we count our blessings and check how much money they saved or earned for the whole past year, and then I double them. Pag ang naitabi ng mga anak ko ay P5,000 then I give them another P5,000. If one got just P1,500 then he will have another P1,500 from me. But if one has nothing, then he will also have nothing from me except for my love, my prayers and my guiding words of advice and encouragement for him to do better next time.

To me that's how you can repay your parents, on top of being the good and godly child that you are. That will make them enjoy their lives when they retire because they know that they do not have to look after your welfare always because you know how to live your life the best way possible.

So go ahead my child and be a young entrepreneur. Share me something about your success not too distant from now. God bless you."

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