DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Efforts paid off for a young single mom who once scoured the five-kilometer stretch of Sheikh Zayed Road from the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) to Dubai Mall under the August summer sun, going from one hotel, café and shop to another, looking a job so she could provide for her four-year-old son in the Philippines.
“Now, nakuha ko na anak ko. Nandito na siya kasama ko sa Dubai. Sobrang saya ko kasi hindi na siya malayo sa akin. Na kahit pagod ako sa work, pag-uwi ko nakikita at nayayakap ko na sya lagi. Hindi ko na kailangan maghintay ng isang taon ‘pag naka-leave ako sa trabaho bago ko sya makasama ulit,” said 29-year-old Rachelle Claire Melchor of Binangonan, Rizal.
(Now, I have brought my son with me. We’re finally together here in Dubai. I am so overjoyed that he’s right next to me where I can always see and hug him whenever I get home from work. I don’t have to wait a year for my annual leave to see him again.)
Melchor left her son, Charles, with one thing in mind: to provide a bright future for him.
Pregnant at 17
At 17, Melchor was a bright-eyed, first year college student taking up a course in business administration (BA) at University of Rizal System – Binangonan. But things went to a grinding halt when she got pregnant.
Coming from what she called a “broken family,” Melchor lamented growing up feeling uncared for. Nobody in the family was taking her seriously, she said.
“Walang may favorite sa akin. Meron pang time na nagmaka-awa ako at lumuhod sa kapatid ng lola ko para samahan lang niya ako sa school dahil may medal ako. Kasi walang gustong sumama sa akin. Tita ko lang ang um-attend ng graduation ko nung Grade 6 ako, and tatay lang ng friend ko ang dumating nung graduation ko ng 4th year high school,” she recalled.
(I was nobody’s favorite. There was a time when I had to beg and kneel before my grandma’s sibling so I could have someone with me at school because I was receiving a medal. Nobody wanted to go with me. It was my auntie who went with me for my graduation when I was in sixth grade. A friend’s father was the only one who came to my high school graduation.)
Melchor said she finally got her family’s attention when they learned she was expecting a baby.
“Nuon lang nila ako napansin. (It was only then that I got all eyes on me.) I was scolded and judged for months because of what happened to me,” she said.
Worse, she and her son’s father broke off when their baby was two years old.
Quit college
Left with not much of a choice, Melchor quit college and worked as a saleslady at SM Megamall and EDSA Shangri-la, learning about the rude realities of life “for my baby.”
(But I thought about my baby. For sure, expenses will grow correspondingly as he begins to grow. I didn’t want to leave Philippines because I’ll miss my baby but I needed to.)
And so, with help from her big sister – there were just two of them plus four stepsiblings – Melchor headed to the UAE in August of 2016, stayed with her mom, stepdad and three stepsiblings in Sharjah, and wasted no time looking for work. She left Charles to the care of his father’s family. She was only 22.
Job-hunting in Dubai
“Nagpasa-pasa ako ng CV online and nag-ikot ako sa buong Dubai Mall para magbigay din ng CV. Ilang araw din na naglakad ako sa initan from DWTC to Dubai Mall para magpasa ng CV sa mga hotels and café,” Melchor said.
(I sent my CV online and went to Dubai Mall handing out hard copies of my CV at the shops. For days, I also walked under the sun from DWTC to Dubai Mall and distributed my CV at hotels and cafés.)
Melchor finally got a break in October 2016, receiving a phone call for an interview. She started working as assistant store in-charge at a Dubai Mall shop in January 2017.
That taken care of, Melchor continued on with her studies and completed her BA course in marketing, online.
“Gusto kong maging proud sina mama sa ‘kin dahil nung nabuntis ako, hindi na nila ko pinag-aral. Ilang buwan nila akong tiniis nun na di pinapansin. Kaya ang sabi ko sa sarili ko, ako na lang magpapa-aral sa sarili ko,” Melchor said.
(I wanted my family to be proud of me because they stopped sending me to college when I got pregnant. For months, they did not talk to me like as if I wasn’t there. That’s why I promised myself I’d go back to college on my own.)
These days, Melchor is a fashion consultant at another mall and is living with her partner. And she couldn’t be happier because he loves her as she is while they move on in life together with her son who is now 12 years old.
As for her family, Melchor said: “Okay naman po ako sa kanila. Tumutulong naman po ako kahit na medyo may sama ako ng loob dati. Nagkimkim ako ng sama ng loob kasi I really put a lot of effort nung bata ako, especially sa school, para maging proud sila sa ‘kin, para makita nila ako. Of course, nanay at mga kapatid ko pa rin sila, anu’t anu pa man.
Melchor brought Charles with her to Dubai in June this year.
