The search for the long-lost mother of a Kuwaiti lady named Fatima became trending across various social media last week. It was a big mystery.
The two have not seen each other for 18 years. Fatima surely has a lot of questions to ask her mother, perhaps including why the woman seemingly abandoned her in the past when she was but a toddler.
Fatima carried with her a photo of the woman she knew as her mother. When she was but a child, she was told that her mother died. However, she later learned that her mother went back to the Philippines. So, she searched for her long-lost mother so they can make up for the lost time.
Fatima is now married and has a son of her own. When she spoke with the news team, she told them she does not want her face to appear on the news because of a complicated situation she is in; the TV station readily complied.
The Search is Over…
When the photo of the mother was posted on ABS-CBN News and other news/blog sites, OFW Kuwait posted a new set of photos taken from the Facebook account of a certain Vangie Reginaldo whose name is strikingly similar to Fatima’s mother’s name, Evangeline D. Reginaldo.
It turns out the site nailed it. They were actually able to find the real Evangeline. ABS-CBN News was later able to interview Evangeline, connecting her with Fatima who is still in Kuwait.
In the TV Patrol report, Evangeline narrated how she actually had a great relationship with Fatima’s father who married her despite his family’s disapproval. She went back to the Philippines to scout for a lot they plan to buy for the family but was surprised when her Kuwaiti husband soon cast her off. Communication became scarce and her sibling in Kuwait was not allowed to visit their home there, anymore.
To make the long story short, she was cut off from her daughter’s life while the latter was told she was already dead.
Watch the TV Patrol coverage here:
Pinoys in Kuwait
Some 180,000 Filipinos are living in Kuwait, according to the 2012 estimates. Most of the OFWs in Kuwait work as domestic helpers. Though problems sometimes happen and the deployment of Pinoys to Kuwait repeatedly becomes a subject of debates and controversy, the country is still among the largest OFW destinations in the world. It ranked sixth as an OFW destination in 2011.
This Arab country has a petroleum-based economy, just like many of its neighbors. Considering that it is a country of 4 million people, it is quite surprising that Kuwait only has 15 universities. Thus, according to the Wikipedia, many Kuwaiti students are sent abroad to finish their studies.